Oh my god I'm actually updating this story! Whoa!
Read on!
Vanellope awoke the next day to hammering knocks on her door. As she blinked the sleep out of her eyes they stopped, and for a second she thought it was a dream.
"Up and at 'em, squirt! Do you want to win the Grand Prix or not?"
"Lord give me strength…" Vanellope muttered as she threw of the covers and slid her legs out of bed, checking the clock and groaning. She stumbled over to the door, and pulled it open wearily. "Christ, Reese, it's six in the morning!"
"Good." Reese replied, his trademark smirk plastered on his face. "You're up, so get dressed, come and eat, and we're leaving." Vanellope groaned again, and Reese laughed. "It's never too early to become a winner, squirt!" He shouted over his shoulder as he made his way down the hall.
Vanellope shuffled back into her room, tripping on her pyjama bottoms and face planting the bed. Maybe she should just not go. That would teach Reese. But she was already up, so she rolled out of bed and got dressed.
Reese was waiting in the breakfast room for her, standing at the grill. As she sat down at the table, he slid an unknown substance in front of her and sat down opposite, staring at her with calculating eyes.
Vanellope looked down at her plate. The food was pink and still sizzling, cut into long strips. But the smell – she inhaled again. What was that? It didn't smell at all sweet, but it didn't smell bad.
She picked up one of the strips, and bit a tiny corner off the edge. The flavour exploded into her mouth, new and entirely unexpected. She nearly spat it out in surprise, but then she began to realise – it was good. She chewed it and swallowed, then looked up at Reese, who had laughter dancing through his eyes, which wasn't like him.
"What was that?" She managed, looking down at her plate. "That, squirt, was bacon. It's savoury – that means it's not sweet. Most people who don't live in sugar coated worlds eat savoury food for their main meals."
Reese watched Vanellope's eyes fill with curiosity, and chuckled internally. He remembered being like that the first time he came to the mushroom kingdom. Everything has amazed him, from the feel of the sheets, to the taste of the toothpaste, even the surface of the road. He watched Vanellope practically lick the plate clean, and then stood.
"Okay squirt, let's go. We've only got one week to make you decent, and we're going to do it." He said determinedly. Vanellope stuck her tongue out at him, but got up and followed him anyway.
They hopped into their karts – Reese in his normal one, Vanellope in a practice kart. Then Reese led the way as they drove through little narrow streets, smelling salted sea air, and wide open lanes, just green hills for miles. They pulled up at a start line, and Reese gestured behind him lazily.
"This is Mario Raceway, named after you-know-who because he saved Peach a few dozen times, blah blah blah." He shrugged, making Vanellope chuckle. "I decided you should start here, because it's one of the easier ones. I've hooked your radio system up to mine, so don't be afraid to shout if you need help."
Vanellope laughed. "I won't need help. I'm a pro." She replied cockily. "Just follow the regular road, right?"
"Right…" Reese began, but before he could finish Vanellope had zoomed off. Reese simply smirked, and turned on his radio.
Vanellope, meanwhile, was cruising along. It wasn't so different to home, and the kart was still easily maintainable. But then she turned a fateful corner…
"Reese there are colourful boxes on the road do I run into them or- TOO LATE, WHY IS THERE A TURTLE SHELL ON MY LAP?!"
"Jesus Christ, there are enormous piranha plants! What the hell is this place?!"
"I JUST GOT STRUCK BY BLOODY LIGHTENING AND NOW I'M BLOODY TINY ARE YOU BLOODY KIDDING ME?!"
By the time she returned, bedraggled and in shock, Reese was busting his ribs from laughter. "So, pro, how was that? Easy, right?" He mocked. Vanellope simply leant back into her seat, breathing heavily.
"Peach is tougher than she looks." Was all she whispered.
Over the next few hours, they raced through the track together, Reese spending most of the day laughing at Vanellope, who couldn't seem to get used to the different power ups or the crazy flora.
BOOM!
Vanellope's practice kart went spinning out of control as she dodged a goomba.
CRASH!
Vanellope's wheels skidded and she drove into the stands.
BANG!
Vanellope hopped out of her kart and ran to the side of the track, green cheeked and sickly, after she had turned into a bullet.
"I don't know if I can do this Reese." She muttered, wiping her mouth, as the older racer strolled over.
"That's ridiculous." He replied in his usual blunt way. Oblivious to Vanellope rolling her eyes at him, he continued "At the prix, you're going to take blows from the others. They won't want you there. They're going to gang up on you, they're going to try and make sure you fail, and if they know they have no chance then they're going to try and drag you down with them." His face was grim, and Vanellope couldn't tell whether he was remembering being victim or bully. "So, your job is to survive. When you've done that, the rest comes easily." He held out his hand, and pulled her to her feet.
"So squirt," he straightened, still towering above her even now, looking down with that familiar glint in his eye. "Show me you can survive."
That night, Vanellope didn't even bother to undress before falling into bed, her muscles aching, her eyes fighting to stay open, her head like a boulder on her shoulders. She rolled over slowly, a groan escaping her lips as she pulled the covers over her. Her last thought before slipping into unconsciousness was that if she didn't win this Prix, she was going to feed Reese to a piranha plant.
The rest of the week went mostly the same. Reese would wake her, and probably half the castle, with his knocking every morning, then take her to a new (and even more terrifying) track: Delfino square, with the enormous nosed creatures wearing grass skirts; Sherbet Land, where the penguins she'd thought were so cute and innocent would slide into her kart and knock her into icy water; Toad Factory, the little rainbow warehouse that turned out to be a death trap in disguise. Beaten and bruised, she would crawl back into bed, and start again the next day.
On the eve of their last day in the Mushroom Kingdom, Vanellope lay on her back, staring up at the pastel ceiling, her eyes so tired spots and swirls were spinning along it. She was about to pass out, when she heard a voice coming from next door.
"Well, guess this is it."
Was that Reese?
"Tomorrow's the Prix, and if she doesn't win, I don't know if there will be another chance."
Vanellope creeped up to the wall on padded socks, and pressed her ear against it. Who was Reese talking to?
"I wish you could meet her. She's a little like you. Well, nowadays, everyone reminds me of you a little. Everything… I don't know. I sound soppy again, don't I? I never used to be as soppy. Heh. It's your fault, really."
He sounded almost happy. Vanellope had never heard him happy. Self-satisfied, maybe, and content, but never happy.
"Right, guess I should get some sleep. I'll just have to hope she does as well as you did tomorrow." There was a pause. Vanellope wondered if he had gone to bed.
"I still love you, Tuny."
Vanellope rocked back off the balls of her feet. Everything was falling into place. Tuny, Petunia, the flowers, the problem that made Reese run away from Sugar Rush, from everything he knew: it was all because of her. Petunia? Vanellope never remembered hearing of a Petunia. It must have been when she was too young to remember, when all the racers were – then it clicked. The woman in the photo, holding baby Taffyta. The photo Reese never stopped looking at. That was Petunia.
But who was she?
Who indeed.
Top priority to finish are now this one and The Adventures of Nellie Smith, so hopefully that'll happen! Then it'll be more updates for You've Been Pumpkined and Sugar Rush Date Nights, theeeeeeen Sugar Rush Racing School 2.0!
Unless life gets in the way.
This is Sticky (a.k.a Miss Wipplesnit) signing off for the night! Goodnight!