Chapter One: The Changing Racer

The president of Sugar Rush Kingdom woke up late that day. Too late, she figured. She felt exhausted. Her code didn't feel as fresh or well-ran as it should have been after a good night's rest.

Dreams never came to game characters, Vanellope being ignorant of their advantages.

Groggily, Vanellope leapt out of bed. Looking around, she located a clock that read it was well past lunch time. "Oh, sour balls! I need to stop thinking so much in bed…" Shaking herself awake, she left her room, not bothering to take in the royal sights that greeted her each and every day.

"There you are, Your Highness." A sentient non-player character walked up. He was a piece of talking candy.

"Sour Bill, what's wrong now?" She already knew the answer; someone had started a stupid fight in the small kingdom. And it was always up to her to stop it.

"A few more fights have broken out. They requested to see you to mediate it." Even Sour Bill's gloomy attitude was enough to make her crack a smile. She felt smug, knowing exactly what was wrong. She also wanted to laugh at her second-in-command, simply because he was funny.

"Can I get some lunch first or something?" She waved her hand in the direction of the royal kitchen.

"Sure, I'll go get you some prepared, while you take care of the problem. They're waiting in the throne room."

"I can hardly contain my excitement." Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, she made her way to the throne room. Surprise, surprise. Snowanna and Minty are fighting over racer placement…I better say something. But she didn't, she kept staring at them hoping for their fight to end and for it to be all over.

"I still say I should be in third this race!" Minty said, stomping her feet in frustration. The president did nothing, still only half-awake.

"I won that spot fair and square!" Snowana wailed. The president's code-based headache got worse. Vanellope grabbed the sides of her head in an attempt to drown it all out, but to no avail. She watched them go about this for several minutes before her assistant returned.

"Your lunch," he said, offering her a tray.

"Yes!" She jumped up in the air, causing the two girls to turn in her direction. She sighed. "Oh, I'm sorry, please keep fighting…" They nodded and did just that while Vanellope rolled her eyes and started on her meal. She continued to munch in a casual manner, almost finding it amusing that the girls assumed either one would get their way. Ralph had a better chance of fitting perfectly inside one of their cars.

"So, what have you decided, Your Presidency?" Snowanna asked by adding the last part with the hopes of buttering her up.

Nonchalantly, she kept eating while she scanned both girls and then looked down to Sour Bill, who merely shrugged. "Denied," she replied without skipping a beat. She quickly shoved a massive piece of candy in her mouth. "Nrow geet orrout pwease." She ignored the single scoff of one of her friends and finished her meal in silence. After swallowing the last bite, she sighed and asked, "Was that it, Sour Bill?"

He answered, "I believe so, yes."

She tilted her head to the side, trying to think of a way to fix her current boredom. "Hey, I know!" she exclaimed, replying to the conversation within her mind. "I can test out the new tracks!" She knew there was nothing better to do until Monday. True, occasionally some big problem came up in her kingdom, but she couldn't be bothered if she was racing and her subjects knew it.

"I'll get your car ready," the gloomy one muttered. Vanellope nodded and smiled with glee. She may not have had any new racers, but at least she could enjoy some of her day. She didn't much feel like seeing Ralph after what he said. She felt bad for feeling that way, but to be fair, he did make her feel worse.

"Awesome! Meet ya on the new Sour Candy Track!"

She bounced out, running as fast as her tiny legs could carry her, glitching from place to place. Glitches were what set her apart from the other racers. What used to be a curse had turned into something that most game characters could only dream about, if they could have dreams.

Daydreaming was what she used to do, moping over her obvious flaw. But it took one Wreck-It Ralph to show her that she was wrong. The ability to spontaneously blink out of existence and blink back somewhere else was a miracle for a driver like her. It gave her the ultimate edge and although most would call it unfair, she called it leveling the playing fields. The other racers all had various abilities that made them work on the track, but her car was bare and so was she. So, teleporting her car back and forth while racing was her playing fair.

Licking her lips, she tried her best to get a feel for the new track. True, there was no real conflict or anything to make her nervous-far from it. She was the only racer on the track. Her car had drummed to life a while ago, but she would not hit the gas just yet.

Vanellope's car, when compared to the others, was quite plain. It was as candy-coated as much as the next car, but there was nothing on or even in it that gave her some kind of edge. They offered her a royal one, but she declined. The human players enjoyed her car the best anyway and it was made from the help of a very special friend.

Shaking those thoughts aside, she dawned her virtual helmet and hit the gas without thinking. The car stalled for a second and then accelerated, hitting sixty miles per hour in less than five seconds. She was racing on a new track! It felt great.

The strip of road was covered with sparkling sour salt. This made the terrain somewhat rough to drive on, but not too much. She instantly swirled around three very large pieces of sour candy that were meant to throw her off the road and into a sour river. Making another right turn, Vanellope found herself on a downwards ramp.

The ramp seemed far steeper than anything on the default track. It went so deep that it seemed to go on forever. Without even realizing it, Vanellope noticed that her car's headlights had turned on. "I didn't even know we had those! Wow, it's dark in here!"

It was almost annoying having to dodge left and right through the constant haze of-"Wait a second…" It was then that she realized what new trick the tunnel was playing. The mist was sour. She was wearing goggles, so her eyes were not affected, though the mist made it difficult to see. She had to dodge pillars of sour candy in the dark through a misty haze. To her, this was definitely a challenge!

"Finally!" she exclaimed, giggling, having the time of her life. The tunnel eventually opened up as the ramp shifted slightly to a more straightened path. She sighed in relief, having passed the tunnel at last. Daylight shined in her eyes as she spotted another river of liquefied candy and an odd-looking bridge looming over it. She spotted several levers and switches but did not have enough time to figure out their functions.

"Huh?!" Out of the corner of her eye, Vanellope spotted another racer and, without thinking, she swerved her car to a stop. Unfortunately, she failed to notice that the bridge was slippery. The car tilted too far to the right and, before she knew it, her car had completely turned over, causing it to crash and blink out of existence.

She panted and braced her feet on the ground, finding her bearing after a bit. Looking around, she spotted the other racer, who seemed to be frozen to the spot. "Hey! What is your…"

She never finished her sentence, she couldn't. She admitted to being a lot of things in her gaming life, but cruel was not one of them. The other girl was shaking in fear, and doing a lousy job of hiding any emotion if she was indeed trying. "Okay, calm down. I'm not hurt, see?" Vanellope gestured all over her body. The other girl nodded but said nothing.

There was no way in gaming hell that this girl was one of the racers Vanellope knew. She wore a brown skirt and dress combination, along with brown shoes and brown shocks. The dress seemed to be made out of slightly cheap material, plain but clean. She had short black hair and no special hat or any accessories like the other racers. From her design, it was clear she was meant to be in Sugar Rush. It all made no sense. Yet, here she was.

"Um, are you a new racer?" Vanellope asked.

The girl just kept staring at Vanellope.

"Okay…my name is Vanellope. You got a name?" Obviously, this was routine. Of course the girl had a name. The president of the game hated to introduce herself with her title so she kept it basic.

A shake of the head was all she got in return. A shake. Vanellope laughed a bit. "Not sure if you're trying to tell a joke or not, heh. It was kind of funny. So, your name, please?"

The girl tilted simply tilted her head to the side.

"Look, I'm not going to scare you or hurt you or anything like that. You are clearly part of the new upgrade, and you must have a name, so what is it?" Her patience was beginning to wear thin.

Truthfully, game characters had their names and even false histories programmed into themselves. Sometimes, it would take months for their real personalities to actually show up "behind closed doors," so to speak. Vanellope still remembered her first few months after being installed. She had acted naturally when selected and controlled by a player. But once the arcade closed for the day, she felt empty, like a hollow shell. Just like the rest.

Over time, however, (and this was true for all game characters ) her sentience started to arise, and she formed her own life and personality. This girl was clearly new and needed some guidance. A character without a name, however, was unheard of—in the arcade, at least.

"Um, I don't think I have a name," the girl muttered. The first thing she'd ever said made Vanellope roll her eyes.

"Of course you do! This happens to all of us. C'mon to the castle, so I can check your code!"

"Check your code" was a phrase that always took on multiple meanings. She meant actually taking a look at the game's new code inside of the CPU using a special passageway. It would allow her to check out what the girl's purpose was in the game and if she was a racer or not. Also, she could check out her code in person by getting to know the girl better.

The president turned around and started walking off the track. The strange girl did not follow. Noticing the problem right away, Vanellope turned around and, without warning, grabbed the strange girl's hand and beckoned her to follow. The girl, of course, did so without thinking at all.

All game characters knew this symptom all too well. There was no name for it, but it meant that this girl was susceptible to being controlled by both a player and a game character until she found her personality. Awkwardly, Vanellope led the girl back to the palace and instructed her to wait in the throne room. It was an odd thing to not have full sentience, but the girl could obviously feel some emotions. The president knew this because the girl was shaking slightly near the main throne as she left her.

"Alright, let's see…Up, down, right, right, left, X, Y, and start." The president was thankful that a new security door had been installed in the code room. She could not decipher everything. She might have been a game character but, technically speaking, she was only nine years old. If you counted how old the game cabinet was, she was twelve.

Sour Bill was there to help. Vanellope tied some candied rope onto her waist and jumped into the code room. The upgrade was easy to spot, something brand new. Eventually, the president and her assistant spotted a character code box that was new to them.

"Okay…Blank?!" In a spot where the girl's name should have been, it was blank. Vanellope looked back at her own box and it was perfectly labeled, so obviously something wasn't wrong with their game. She turned to Sour Bill, who looked just as puzzled.

Shaking her head, she decided to inspect the new girl's code. She was clearly a player and slightly different than the others, but they were all like that. "I don't get it!" she exclaimed. Her assistant didn't have a clue either.

Sour Bill pondered this as they left back for the throne room. "Perhaps your friend Calhoun would know what this means? This is an upgrade and all, and she is in a newer game…" He trailed off, not believing his own words would be useful. He never actually did-to an extent. He was never a depressing character, but wasn't far off.

"That's it! I'll just take her to the sergeant! Thanks, Sour Bill!" She hugged him and left the sticky candy in silence. He smiled for the first time that day.

Vanellope returned to the throne room and began, "Hey, we found…"

The mystery girl jumped in surprise, having been caught inspecting her throne out of sheer curiosity. She gave a sheepish smile and gulped, hoping she wasn't in trouble for moving.

"Uh, it's a neat throne, huh? You okay?"

The girl gave a simple nod and turned back to her stoic expression. This was starting to annoy the president but she stayed patient. "Okay, so, listen. We're heading to Game Central Station to see a friend. She might be able to find out why you have no name." Vanellope turned around to leave before grabbed the girl's hand again. "You do want a name right?"

"Yes?" the girl nervously replied.

Vanellope couldn't help but giggle a bit, trying her best not to hurt the new girl's feelings. She was just glad they did not run into the other racers. New game characters were always vulnerable, like children who were far too innocent for their own good.

They decided to simple walk to the tram from the castle. The girl took in a few sights but for the most part she remained silent. It unnerved Vanellope but she kept her patience through out.

Sitting in the tram, Vanellope felt an awkward silence. It wasn't that unnerving since the girl barely had a personality, but she couldn't help but feel bad for the brown-clad racer who was doing nothing more than examining her shoes.

"Hey," Vanellope whispered. The girl looked up with the same stoic expression that was slowly turning into a frown. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," the girl answered. She wasn't okay. Far from it. Being brought into a game was an odd experience for new characters. They were forced to see that they were, in fact, in a game and not real in the sense of their backstory. At least that's what Vanellope, Ralph, and all her friends went through. However, this girl did not seem to have a backstory in her code box. She would remain empty until she started talking more.

"Um, you don't seem fine. You really should talk more. Like, now would be good."

"About what?" This at least got more of a response. The tram was at the halfway point.

"Anything. Maybe you could ask me questions and I can ask you something. Like…oh! What were you doing on the bridge anyway?"

The girl's cheeks reddened, obviously embarrassed. The girl mumbled something that the president couldn't hear.

"What was that?" Vanellope asked.

"Um…"

"Just say it!"

The nameless girl flinched but nodded slowly. "I was just trying to get something to drink and, um, go to the bathroom…" she admitted.

That did it. Vanellope tried her best to hold back but failed. She laughed and laughed the rest of the tram ride there. Game characters did have to use things like bathroom, but it was somewhat different from real humans. By the time they arrived, the president received the only amount of emotion the girl had dared to show so far aside from fear. The girl was glaring at Vanellope.

The president muttered, "Um, sorry. Hehe, it's an old joke, sort of. I'm just trying to help…"

"Then why are you laughing?!" the girl snapped. The president looked meekly away in response. She mentally admitted that she was being rude, but she never thought in a million years that the quiet girl would outright yell.

"I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Vanellope mentally scolded herself for ever thinking of laughing at the poor girl. She had to just keep reminding herself that she was brand new and that it was her job to lead the new girl and guide her, not make her feel unwanted.

The nameless girl sighed and nodded. With a sigh of relief, Vanellope grabbed the girl by the hand and led her away from the door. Again, it seemed odd that the surge protector never showed up. The president felt awkward leading a girl her size through Game Central Station like she was a child. Vanellope just kept mentally reminding herself that, in essence, the nameless girl was a child and she was the adult. At least she was in this situation.

"What's that?" The girl sprang to attention, pointing in the direction of a random game.

"That's my friend's game, 'Wreck-It Ralph!'"

"Oh. Wait, what's that?" She pointed to another game.

The president rolled her eyes and responded, "That's Pac-Man."

"Oh. So wait, then what'-"

Vanellope interrupted, "Look, we really need to get you to Tappers, where I can hopefully find one of my friends. She can help you. I can't at the moment. I usually can, being the president of our game and all…" The nameless girl's eyes widened at this, but she said nothing. "Once we figure out why you have no name, then we can go sight-seeing. How's that sound?"

"Uh okay…But why don't I have a name?"

"Like I said, I can't help with that, but she can."

They continued to walk until finally they arrived at "the hang-out," as she liked to call it in her head. "Tappers" never felt quite right.

Vanellope turned her head back to the girl and rolled her eyes when she found her returning to a shy state once again. She hated what she was about to do, more than she hated sour candy. It was one of the rare moments in her life when she decided to not only be nice, but to act it, too. Not that she ever considered herself unfair; she would always do the right thing. But it was no fun doing the right thing and acting nice about it.

"Listen, are you scared?" the president asked. She received no response. "You can tell me!" She offered the girl smile, but to no affect. "I used to be scared, too, you know." An ear perked up at this. Vanellope knew she was getting through to her. "I worried that the other racers would never like me and I would never get to race. We'll find your place and we can get you, um, friends. How's that sound?" She was never good with speeches, but at least the girl's shyness seemed to melt away. The nameless girl noticed that their hands had stopped touching and quickly corrected it, much to the confusion of Vanellope.

"Are we friends?"

That took Vanellope by surprise, but saying no seemed like the dumbest thing she could ever do. And she had once challenged Ralph to a belching contest. "Yes, I would love to be your friend. Now, how-"

A code-crunching hug interrupted her. She smiled a bit and then used her code to quickly escape the grasp. The girl looked confused for a moment but not from what Vanellope did. She was looking down at her own dress. Vanellope said, "Whoa…How'd you do that?"

"I don't…I…What?" She was no longer wearing the plain brown dress, but something that a princess would wear. It was elaborate. Perhaps, too elaborate.

"That's crazy…That's my dress! Or, it would be if I wore it, but I hate that thing. Heh." However, the nameless girl did not hate Vanellope's dress at all. She didn't feel silly or out of place. It was her dress after all. At least, that's what she assumed.

"Let me try something…" Vanellope tilted her head to the side, stuck out her tongue and gently touched the nameless girl with her right hand and glitched. As expected, the brown plain dress was back. She glitched again and again, switching it back and forth until deciding on keeping the pink dress. "Well, well, well. Looks like we found out something about you!"

The girl asked, "We did?" She was more confused than anything. True, she was only a day old or so, but this still made no sense.

"Sure! You have the ability to glitch, just like me! I think?"

The girl shook her head. She was mostly sure what a game glitch was, and it didn't sound like a good thing. "I don't want to be a glitch!"

"Hey! I'm a glitch and I'm pretty happy about it! No one cares and this is pretty cool!"

"It is?"

"Yep! Now, enough stalling. Let's go find Calhoun!" Vanellope exclaimed. The girl was too busy inspecting her fingers and new dress to obey. Resisting the urge to yell after her, Vanellope glitched back, grabbed the girl's hand and glitched her into the bar. Sure enough, with her luck, she spotted Felix and Calhoun, but no Ralph. "Hey! Calhoun!"

"Kid? Uh, were kind of busy here…" Calhoun exclaimed. Felix was dressed in a fancy suit. The sergeant's gun was missing in action and her hair looked combed. They were clearly on some kind of date, but it all went over the young president's head.

"Look, I need to talk to you. Like, now!"

"What is it? I'm really busy here, and it isn't Cy-Bugs!"

"We got a new character!"

"Uh…" Felix muttered. Vanellope turned to Felix, who gave a sheepish smile. Being the gentleman that he was, he allowed the conversation to continue. Even if they were being interrupted. "That's good? But-"

"She needs your help and she's kind of brand new if you know what I mean."

"Oh, well…" Calhoun hesitated while looking back at Felix.

"Go on, hon. I'll meet you back at the usual spot! We have until Monday anyway!" Felix said and was out of sight in an instant. The sergeant had her hand out to stop him, but he was already gone.

Calhoun muttered, "Great. Why is she in your dress?"

"Well, I think she has some type of power, maybe even a glitch. Just watch." Vanellope interrupted the girl's sightseeing of the other game characters and glitched her dress out of existence. She kept doing it until the Sargent stopped her.

"Alright, that's definitely odd. Not unheard of, though." She grabbed the girl and tried the same thing but nothing happened. "Girl, uh, what's your name?"

"That's the other problem, she doesn't have one. We even checked her code box. No label."

"Again, not unheard of, but…in an arcade? That is messed-up, kid. Okay, try and glitch for me when I grab your hand."

The girl was perplexed. "I don't know how," she admitted, slightly confused.

Calhoun turned to Vanellope. "Didn't you teach her how?"

"Well, we just met. I didn't know she could glitch or whatever it is she's doing. I thought you could help!"

"Terrific, thanks for coming straight to me…" Despite the obvious sarcasm, the president just beamed, feeling slightly cocky (and just wanting an excuse to smile). Calhoun ordered, "Alright Vanellope, grab her hand while I do the same, and do that glitch thing again."

What happened next was both shocking and, to the president, cool. Standing before them was a miniature version of the Sergeant, only with different-colored hair. "Bingo. She's a changing character," Calhoun remarked.

"A what?" both racers said in unison.

"In her code is the ability to change appearance and clothes. Usually, you don't see this kind of thing in arcades, but it must be part of the new upgrade they installed in your game."

"Oh, neat! But then, how come she has no name?"

"Yeah!" the nameless girl whined.

"Beats me, maybe the player gets to pick your name each time? It would make sense, even if it does virtually nothing for the game itself."

The girl sadly mumbled, "Oh…"

"Aww, don't be that way. We can just name ya! Who cares if a player changes your name and clothes each time you race? You still need a name and that, uh…" Vanellope's confidence wavered and she turned to the Sergeant for help. Some truths were hard to admit to herself. Naming another character just seemed like too much.

"Don't look at me! I'm nobody's mama here! Ask one of your racer friends or something…" Calhoun's voice trailed off when she noticed the girl was now carrying a miniature version of her gun, pointing it at a glass in awe and curiosity. "No!"

As it turns out, the word no was the right trigger to get the child to pull the trigger. She shattered the root beer glass into a million pieces. She stood there in utter shock, her virtual mind frozen. The Sergeant grabbed the gun out of her hand and before Calhoun could utter a speech about crazy acts, the president beat her to it.

"Are you crazy!?" Spit flew off her lips, nearly painting the new girl with her salvia. The girl flinched back, too scared to move but still, shutters of fear happened anyway. "You never, and I mean NEVER fire a gun outside of your own game! What if you died?! You don't regenerate unless you're in Sugar Rush! Your own game!"

Calhoun barked, "Kid! Calm down!"

Vanellope turned to her in confusion. The sergeant sighed and pointed back to the miniature commando. She was crying. Mentally slapping herself in the face again, Vanellope realized that this was just not her day. She was a terrible "teacher," and she knew it. Making a new character cry was just low.

"I'm sorry…please, calm down." That did nothing at all. She wasn't trying in her attempt to calm her down; Vanellope just assumed that, by asking, it would happen. It didn't. The girl kept on crying, quietly but obvious.

Then, the sergeant did something that she would later deny for the rest of her gaming days. She patted the girl on her back. "You didn't know, but listen to the old president here. You've got to be careful outside your game. Now, glitch her back. She doesn't need the gun." Calhoun walked away.

It took Vanellope a moment to shake off what she had just done. She then glitched the girl back into the brown dress and waited for her to calm down. "Feeling better?"

The girl sniffed, "That was mean."

She had to agree with the girl. She was being mean, even if it was for her own good. "I'm sorry." Vanellope ran up and hugged her. "I'll try not to yell, but I'm not good with new characters…I just don't want you to get hurt, you know?" A nod in response, and then quickly back to the shy attitude. "We really need to get you a name, heh." The girl nodded after sniffing away her remaining tears. "Maybe I should take you to Ralph!"

"I just want to go back," she said, seeming fearful.

"Why?" Vanellope asked.

"Please," the girl pleaded.

She knew exactly what the girl was feeling at that very moment: fear of dying without an extra life. It happened to all game characters the first time they heard the terrible truth. Die outside of your own game and you stay dead. You can regenerate in your own game just fine and stay the same.

"Okay, just follow me." She did not feel like agitating the poor girl anymore that day. She led her back to the tram but did not get on. "Just stay in Sugar Rush near the tram, okay?" A shy nod. "I'll be right back!"

Vanellope waved as the tram sped off, but received no wave in return. "Ugh, new characters. I feel like a mother…Ew." She shuddered at the thought. "Time to get Ralph." She wasn't sure if he could help her give the girl a name, but it couldn't hurt.

Plus, she couldn't bring the nameless girl with her. Not yet. She was scared out of her mind to be outside of her game, and for good reason. All game characters had to learn it and they all got over it eventually. Still, most did not learn that way, and it made the president feel bad. Shrugging it off, she found the correct tram and boarded, hoping upon hope that her oldest friend would have a solution.