Sora could already feel his heartbeat starting to thud. Simply sitting in the driver's seat behind the chugging engine of a powerful race car had it throbbing like a bass drum. Could he do this? Could he actually compete with these seasoned racers?
He'd raced on those bike things in Tron's world, sure, but that was on a bike for starters, and in a huge expanse with no other people. This was in a car and on a track, which meant boundaries, and a good ten or so rivals he had to not crash into.
"Remember Sora, you don't have to win," Calhoun called out to him. "Your plan is just to lure in the last few Cy-Bugs so your buddies and I can eliminate them. Just focus on getting to the finish line, got it? That should work for all of us."
"Y-y-you got it," Sora stammered. His hands were slipping from the pretzel steering wheel, they were sweating so much. He wasn't even sure why the steering wheel was a pretzel. Wasn't this a candy world?
Either way, that wasn't important. A flurry of bright red lights flared up above him like an ominous Christmas tree. The red lights slowly multiplied until an entire barrage of them illuminated the track. That round green guy held a flag above the starting line and suddenly everything turned green as Sora was left behind.
"Oh, c'mon…!" He groaned, hammering his foot down on what he hoped was the right pedal. His car belched out a mass of black smoke, followed by the pained shrieking of the tyres, but the thing hurtled forward. It bumped over the edge of the first corner with no issue, but the next one came way too quickly and had sparks flying as the car screeched against the barrier.
Sora blinked viciously for a few seconds, momentarily blind in his left eye because of the sparks. His car wheedled off around the second corner before Sora could set it back on line with a clumsy fiddle of the wheel. He really wished he'd had some time to practice driving before getting dropped in the deep end. It wasn't exactly his fault, but at this rate the other guys were just going to pass him again.
The crowds were roaring with boos and jeers. Despite his best efforts, A searing heat percolated from somewhere in his depths. He grit his teeth and floored the accelerator. Another horrid screeching escaped from his back tyres before the machine lurched forward, careering around another loose corner and scattering pebbles in the meantime. Suddenly a clear glass cube shattered in front of him and a bright roulette wheel lit up on the car's dashboard. Sora's eyes were darting between the road ahead and the spinning symbols on his dashboard until it eventually stopped at a…
"Liquorice stick?" He frowned, skittering out of the way of an enormous jawbreaker as it tore down the straight. "W-what does…"
There was a button next to the screen on the dashboard. That was obviously the one to fire or activate it or whatever. His finger hovered over the button for a couple of seconds, however a notable lack of targets had him withdraw before long. It would've been much more convenient if it were on the steering wheel, he had to admit, though he supposed he wouldn't be able to accidentally fire it in this position. Some awkward brake work had his car choking around a tight corner, only for the ground ahead of him to burst open and a Cy-Bug to soar out of it, heading directly for him.
"Uh oh…!" Sora instinctively reached for his walkie talkie, but the moment his hand left the wheel another corner came out of nowhere and forced him to concentrate on that instead. How was he supposed to alert Calhoun or anyone to the presence of Cy-Bugs if he couldn't reach his walkie talkie to-
The Cy-Bug was suddenly illuminated in a ball of flame, exploding into puddles of goop. Another crashed through some sort of tower but was quickly taken out by gunfire.
Sora's thudding heart slowed just a little. It looked like he could rely on them after all. His car drifted across what must have been a hot chocolate mix or something, which stuck to his wheels like mud and brought him to a crawl. Again he found himself flooring the accelerator and achieving nothing. What was he supposed to do now? Just crawl forwards until the mud ran out?
The bridge was inching closer as he simply revved his way forwards. Once again his hand crept over to the button on the dashboard. Now was as good an opportunity as ever to find out what the liquorice sticks did. He hammered down on the button and two enormous masses of liquorice burst from the front of the car, firing off into the distance.
Sora's face fell. "Well that was useful."
Finally his car pulled itself out of the mud, rattling over the bumps and tearing his back to shreds. He smashed into another one of those prize block things just in time to pass one of the other racers, who seemed to have their car stuck in a dark, sludgy mass. His heart lurched at the sight, but the sympathy dissolved away pretty quickly when he saw the vile look the kid gave him. They even stopped struggling just to give him the coldest, iciest stare he'd ever experienced. Sora couldn't help but stare right back, barely paying attention to the road ahead of him or the rectangular something that had appeared on his dashboard display. Squeaking around a corner, he had to squint at the tiny image on the screen.
"…a packet of chips?" He frowned. That definitely wasn't candy. It must have been something that came in a packet, like maybe pop rocks or something. But just what was this going to do?
Maybe he could plant them somewhere and they'd explode like mines. Assuming they even were pop rocks, that was. They could've been anything on such a damn tiny screen.
Sora prodded it with his finger, then groaned when the thing didn't zoom in. That was the best clue he was going to get, he supposed.
Another Cy-Bug burst through one of the stands, scattering spectators everywhere. Before it could lock its gaze on Sora though, Goofy's shield swung through the air towards it, knocking it out of the skies. Sora returned his attention to the track just as a bright light flashed behind him, followed by the telltale spurt of an exploding Cy-Bug.
Without warning, Sora's entire world was thrown sideways when a flaming something or other soared right past him, knocking his cart to the side as if it were made of cardboard. Screeching past him was the racer he'd overtaken earlier, encased in a bright red blaze.
"Dammit…!" Sora grumbled, kicking his engine back to life. The poor thing spluttered a couple times but eventually chugged forwards again, picking up speed on the gentle curve around the 'peppermint lake', as the obvious sign stated. It looked like King Candy couldn't even convince himself of this, Sora thought with a chuckle. Dodging out of the way of another thrown jawbreaker, his mind wandered over to the power up on his dashboard. He still couldn't figure out even what it was, forget what it did. There was every chance it could make things worse for him, and he was supposed to be running consistently so he could draw out Cy-Bugs and have everyone else pick them off for him. Every scrap of sense he possessed told him that it was a bad idea to just randomly try these things out.
But then there was the little niggle, the evil curiosity in the back of his skull that wondered what it did. It was almost like there was a little fairy on either shoulder, arguing over what he should do next.
His cart reached the end of the peppermint loop, entering what looked like a mostly straight road but with a few giant gobstoppers rising out of the ground either side and making for a slalom of sorts.
So basically a straight line, Sora smirked to himself. Whatever the candy packet did, surely it wouldn't go too badly on a straight line, would it?
Sora gulped, and hammered down on the little button. Something exploded out of the back of the cart, and next thing he knew, his stomach was left behind as the machine rocketed forwards at a blistering speed. The steering wheel was vibrating so violently that he could barely keep a hold of it, meanwhile his eyes felt like they were melting into his skull and the rest of him was compressed into the driver's seat. Three or four more, smaller explosions popped out of the exhaust as the cart arced across the long straight. The front wheels squeaked onto one of the giant gobstoppers and suddenly the cart was airborne, tearing through the very skies above. Sora was little more than a condensed ball of nerves in the space between the roof and headrest, holding onto the steering wheel for dear life.
Sweat was cascading from his brow as the cart began to descend, cresting the top of another gobstopper and skittering down its glossy surface. Gravity shifted and Sora crashed forward again, all but toppling from his seat. The cart crashed back to flat ground and sideswiped another racer before careering around the next corner.
Sora rubbed at a bruise on his forehead. "Alright… now I know what that one does."
He groaned when his cart smashed into another one of those prize cube things and the dreaded roulette wheel started spinning again. A Cy-Bug burst up a few metres away and lunged for him, but a timely spray of bullets from Calhoun stopped it from becoming a problem. Sora couldn't help but chuckle – was his plan actually working?
Getting to drive the thing in the first place was enough of a surprise. Everyone was so against it at first. But now he was an actual race car driver, on an actual track, and he was even helping to draw out the last of the Cy-Bugs with it. Double the usefulness.
His roulette wheel stopped, showing him a picture of another gobstopper. Weaving the cart between two cotton candy bushes, he took careful aim. For once he actually knew what the button did. Swerving around another mass of cotton candy, he launched a gobstopper out of the rear of his cart, which grew slowly larger as it snowballed and wedged itself between two cotton candy clouds. With a grin, Sora allowed himself a quick fist pump before having to violently swerve out of the way as an enormous marshmallow was catapulted out of nowhere, missing him by inches. The marshmallow then exploded once it hit the track, spitting out smaller blobs of marshmallow in multiple directions which Sora had to also try and dodge. His back-left tyre caught on one and the cart span out, right into a candy bush.
"…good aim." Sora's eyes were glassed over as he once again floored the accelerator but got nothing in return, but managed a smirk when one of the other racers cracked into the gobstopper he'd placed earlier. It went nowhere. Sora wheedled his tyres left and right, left and right, slowly pulling himself out of the candy cloud and then forwards once again. The next section of the track seemed to feature fallen candy cane trees, most of which the cart could easily just hop over. Some were thick enough that he'd have to actually go around them, but for the most part it wasn't an issue. That was, until the trees started actively falling towards him. With a screech of the tyres and a yelp of panic, Sora wove his way between several falling candy canes that seemed determined to fall on him and only him, not any of the other racers in the region. A selection of fallen trees were acting as bridges to the next section, each spreading out in different directions. Sora just shrugged and went for the middle one. It was the widest after all, so it would be the easiest one.
It also had a different pattern to the others, Sora noticed. While the two on the outside were a definite alternating pattern, this one seemed to have double the red str-
His stomach lurched. Suddenly the pattern wasn't so interesting any more. The entire bridge had just disappeared beneath him, leaving his cart falling helplessly down the gap in the track. His stomach had migrated to his throat as the cart continued to plunge. It disappeared into greenery and entered some murky cave, still on a sharp downward slope yet still with prize cubes. Sora wrestled what little control he could out of the cart, narrowly dodging random stalagmites in the vague hope of making it to the patch of light at the other end. The cart ricocheted off what must have been a sheet of ice or something and then careered down a slippery narrow pathway where the cart was literally turned upside down for all of a moment. Suddenly blinding light flooded the area, and once again Sora was screaming through the open air. Blinking desperately, he could just about register the presence of flat ground ahead of him, where the cart swerved back onto the long straight and onto lap two.
He caught a glimpse of the Sour Bill guy holding up placards stating that he had four more of these. Four.
"Ugh…" Sora rubbed his eyes. He was exhausted after one. Forget all the fighting and the darkness and stuff. Another Cy-Bug burst out of nowhere but was quickly taken down by what looked like an explosion or something. Sora continued to twist and turn his way through the candy hellscape, but he still hadn't seen hide nor hair of King Candy. Sure, he'd been at the back of the pack for the entirety of the race so far, but surely he would've seen the man?
Of course there was every chance that Candy just didn't play fair. Sora knew it wasn't his job to win, it was just to draw out the Cy-Bugs and maybe push Candy's buttons. But that man was hiding something, and he was going to find out what.
Slamming his hand down on the button, Sora's cart was suddenly riding on a bright, glittering rainbow, coursing right through any obstacles on the track. While Candy still remained comfortably ahead, Sora was able to draw out more Cy-Bugs with his mere presence, and Calhoun and the guys would quickly mobilise to take them down. As long as they didn't all come out at once, it was a solid system as far as he was concerned.
With a little bit of luck and a lot of anger and cursing, Sora was slowly able to chip away at the other racers' leads over five laps. Dodging blobs of liquorice as he went and occasionally getting knocked off course by disgruntled racers, weaving his way around cotton candy and crashing over fallen candy cane trees, luring Cy-Bugs to their doom all the while, he worked his way through the five laps of chaos. As he progressed however, his luck only seemed to get worse, with increasing amounts of obstructions getting thrown at him the closer he got to the finish line. Even the Cy-Bugs seemed to be getting more aggressive with every lap finished, launching out of various crevices and cracks almost every corner now. They were so many in number that Sora had to dodge them as well as the various obstacles being thrown at him this time. At some points it felt like his car was going farther sideways that forwards for the volume of stuff he had to dodge, what with the lovely King taking it upon himself to lead the barrage. Goofy and the others could just about keep the Cy-Bugs at bay, but King Candy's onslaught only got fiercer with every inch Sora could creep.
"Give it up, Virus!" He spat, belching a tongue of flame from the exhaust of his own cart. "You've already lost, so what's the point?!"
Sora growled behind his dashboard. Why was Candy trying to stop him finishing the race? He hadn't tried to stop anyone else, and he'd passed the finish line ages ago, so why only him? What was this guy's problem?
There must have been a reason for it. Sora just needed to get there so he could unearth whatever it was. There was an image of gummy bears on his dashboard. He wasn't sure what gummy bears could do, but it was surely better than just screeching tyres and endless dodging. Even if it just repelled Candy's obstacles for a few seconds, that would buy him enough time to cross the finish line and complete the mission for Calhoun.
Sora hit the button and once again found his stomach leaving him behind when the cart bounced from the track, propelling itself forwards. Rage surged across Candy's face as the cart cleared the finish line at last. A bright light started emanating from literally everything, and the crash to the ground Sora had been expecting for the last few seconds still hadn't come. He looked around his cart to see that the race track, the other racers, the surroundings themselves… had entirely disappeared. Aside from the occasional flickering light, all that remained was an empty darkness in every direction.
"Oh bravo, Virus." Candy's voice rang out from somewhere, followed by a slow clap. "Congratulations, you've reset the game. A fantastic achievement, wouldn't you say?"
A hand smashed into the window on Sora's right and literally dragged him through it. "Now you've got me to answer to!"
"Who're you?!" Sora yelped, for the hand around his neck didn't belong to King Candy, but the voice did. This man had a red and white aesthetic rather than King Candy's purple and gold mess, and glowing green eyes amidst a skeletal, gaunt face.
"I am Turbo, and you've unlocked me, Virus!" The King Candy imposter seethed. "And now it's time for the Bonus Level!"
With a high-pitched, maniacal cackle, Turbo threw Sora by the arm across the endless void, where he crashed into the floor with a crack. Before Sora could so much as react, Turbo was already upon him again, simply grabbing a limb and swinging.
His body was smacked into the ground yet again, while Turbo gave him no chance to recover, simply launching him across the ground at a blistering pace. There was another dull crack when Sora was thrown across the floor. His left arm exploded with pins and needles while the urge to throw up surged in his throat. By the time he had clutched at the ground Turbo had once again caught up with him, readying another attack. This time there was a flurry of bullets however, and the man fell away from Sora in shock.
"Y-you!" He gasped. "Why are you here?!"
"Isn't it obvious, Candy?" Calhoun lit up a flare. "You don't belong in Sugar Rush. None of us do. So here we are."
"What was that you were saying about a Bonus Level?" Donald whacked his staff into his opposite wing.
"Ain't'cha gonna let us join in?" Goofy readied his shield. "'Cause it's way more fun with more players!"
Turbo's face creased. With a grunt of irritation, he raised two fists. "V-very well then! I'll delete you all!"
"Hey, wait a second!" Yet another voice entered the situation. With a flash of green lightning, Vanellope appeared out of nowhere. "You all starting the fun without me?!"
"You!" Turbo seethed. "I was this close to taking over, this close to ruling with an iron fist! But like our virus friend here, you just keep popping up, refusing to simply disappear! Prepare yourself, Glitch!"
"Uh oh!" Vanellope gasped, teleporting out of the way from a burst of energy launched by Turbo. Donald attempted a Blizzard spell in response, but it was dodged effortlessly, where Turbo appeared behind him in a flash and launched the duck into the air. Donald fell back to earth with a thud and Turbo knocked Goofy's shield away from him with a speedy swipe. Goofy received a lightning fast punch to the gut as punishment and was then knocked out of Turbo's way. Another spray of bullets from Calhoun's rifle stopped Turbo in his tracks, but with a grin the racer shot a blast of energy towards her. A commando roll backwards couldn't save her though, and the blue energy took hold, surrounding her entirely.
"W-what the?!" Her voice turned more robotic and jittery. Blue blotches of code rippled through the void of energy, but the immobilised Calhoun was powerless to do anything about it.
"Hang on Sarge!" Sora cried, lunging towards her with his Keyblade.
"Trouble me no more!" Turbo cackled, crushing a fist. With a yelp of surprise, Calhoun's body within the bubble was quickly disintegrated into nothingness, vanishing into the endless dark.
"Wha?!" Sora yelped, swiping at nothing with his Keyblade. "Wh-where'd she go?!"
"I warned you, Virus!" Turbo threatened. "I said I would delete you, but you didn't listen! And now you can pay the price! I will delete all of you if I have to, and I will create a new Sugar Rush from scratch! I will be King Candy, and there's nothing you can do to st-"
Turbo's monologue was suddenly interrupted by Goofy's shield clashing with his face.
Sora seized the moment and struck with his Keyblade, hitting him across the back. Vanellope summoned what looked like a Thunder spell and struck the man to the ground. But almost immediately Turbo sprang right back to his feet, grabbing Sora by the arm and again throwing him to the floor. Goofy was lucky to block the blue energy burst with his shield however, and even Vanellope couldn't react fast enough to block his swipe. She fell to the ground with a grunt while Sora tried another aerial leap, missing horribly. Donald blocked off one route with a Blizzard spell and bought Goofy enough time to shield bash Turbo into it, but once again the man sprang back almost instantly, thrusting an open palm towards Goofy and knocking him back through the shield.
"Give it up already!" Turbo snarled. "I can take on all four of you at once! And if you dare make a mistake, even a little one, you go poof! Bye-bye! Just like your little friend Calhoun! This game of chess has to end sometime, and I am the King! Which means I am all-"
There was a flash of green lightning, and again Turbo's evil chant was reduced to a gasp as Vanellope snuck behind him, binding his hands. The pair of them sunk half into the ground, trapping his legs.
"Yeah, you're the King alright!" She taunted into his ear. "But that's the thing. You're also a stinkbutt, and a meanie, and now you're trapped! Consider this… uhh, what's the word again?"
"Checkmate." Sora smirked. "You're helpless now, Turbo. Sure, maybe we can't defeat you. But you know what we can do? We can still win."
Sora picked up the flare Calhoun had thrown earlier. "Maybe we can kill two birds with one stone. What're you thinking, guys?"
"I think we oughta clean up." Goofy said.
"And I know exactly how." Said Sora. He held the flare high up, and almost instantly there was a heavy surge of buzzing as multiple Cy-Bugs locked onto it.
"What are… what are you doing?!" Turbo spluttered. "This is insane! This is madness! You wouldn't dare!"
"Wouldn't I?" Sora stared him down. Floating green eyes continued to close in on their little group. "Game over, Turbo."
Donald and Goofy had already gotten a fair amount away. Sora made sure to carefully tuck the flare into Turbo's pocket before throwing his Keyblade behind him, meanwhile Vanellope just teleported to safety.
"I'll get you for this, Virus!" Turbo struggled. "You'll regret the day you wronged me!"
The Cy-Bugs had surrounded him now. With a roar and a lunge, Turbo let out half a scream before the sound of slicing flesh and cracking joints echoed through the darkness.
"Oof…" Sora grimaced at it. "Y-you ready to finish things, Donald?"
"You bet," Donald grinned. The pair of them launched Firaga spells towards the mess of Cy-Bugs, igniting the mass. After a few pained screeches, the Cy-Bugs exploded one by one, covering the area in piles of viscous goop.
Sora dusted his hands. "A-and that's that."
"It is…?" Goofy muttered. "But ain't we s'posed ta be returnin' ta Sugar Rush now?"
"Or Game Central Station?" Donald sounded hopeful.
"Or… anywhere?" Vanellope shrugged. "W-what happens now?"
"I-I dunno," Sora said. "Wait for the game to reset I guess?"
Everywhere he turned, all he saw was darkness. There weren't even any more floating green eyes due to the last of the Cy-Bugs being defeated. All he knew was the vague sense of his three companions, Donald, Goofy and Vanellope. And the one lost on the way.
"H-hey, you think if the game resets, everything Turbo did will be undone?" He asked to no one in particular.
"Oh, because of that lady?" Vanellope said. "I-I hope so. If you die outside of your game, you don't come back, so that'd be a real bummer…"
Sora sighed. Despite everything, he couldn't help but feel a bit… hollow. Sure, they won, but they lost Calhoun and possibly destroyed Vanellope's home. It wasn't exactly a happy ending…
Meanwhile, back at Hollow Bastion…
A microwave dinged. Grabbing a dishcloth, Leon opened the door and pulled out an entire plate of hot dogs. About fifteen of them in total.
Humming contentedly to himself, he took his time slicing the buns open and adding even amounts of ketchup and mustard.
"That'll do it," he allowed himself a smile. Piling them back onto the plate, he carried the mountain of hot dogs back to the computer room. Something brought his attention to a shuffling halt, however.
"…the hell?" Leon frowned.
Surging in the middle of the hallway, an ominous cloud of darkness began to cackle. It grew larger and darker by the second, dimming the very lights with the energy coming from it. There was the tiniest of whimpers when Leon's plate of hotdogs shattered to the floor. Gunblade in hand, he triggered the alarm.
"Sora, what have you done?"
Author's Note:
Hey there everyone. This is the second to last chapter, meaning the journey's almost over.
So yeah, Sora got to race, Candy got exposed, RIP Calhoun, plus an Easter egg with Leon. But we're not done yet. ;)
Thanks for reading. Seeya soon.