I know you all likely want that explanation chapter so you know how all this King Candybug and Turbug stuff happened, but this one begged to be done first. "Explain to Me" will be up next, I swear…hopefully. So many plot bunnies in my head for this fic, guys!

Everything in italics is lifted directly from the Sugar Rush: Expansion thread in my forum, Wreck-It Ralph: Expansion.

CLAIMER: Pepper, Cocoa, and Cotton are mine. No stealing!

DISCLAIMER: Jacks and Mallow belong to Jac Bandit. No stealing!

Dethrone Me

"Hurt Vanellope? Are you high on chocolate, mithter?" King Candy demanded, backing up. "I would never hurt one of my loyal thubjecth!"

"Your loyal subjects? You're not in charge anymore, Turbo! Vanellope is!" Ralph barked, taking another swing.

"What are you blathering about? Thure, Vanellope ith the betht racer in ThugarRuth...but in charge? I'm afraid you are mithtaken!" King Candy corrected, dodging the swing.

.o.o.o.o.

King Candy sighed, curled up on the floor of the ballroom on one of the castle's upper floors. This was one of the biggest rooms in the castle, so it was no surprise Vanellope chose this as where he could stay. No other room could handle his size, after all.

His tails flicked slightly as he lay there, head resting on his arms. His eyes were half-lidded. Confusion, fear, and sorrow were evident on his face.

Snippets of the early conversations since coming to the castle returned to the forefront of his mind.

.o.o.o.o.

Felix was already at the open code vault, wrapping a licorice rope around his waist. Vanellope was standing nearby, eyeing the cybrid cautiously.

"Wait, what are you doing? You're not thuppothed to go in there," King Candy warned.

"We've done this plenty of times before. Just trying to figure out why you're here," Felix reassured.

"Why I'm here?! Of courthe I'm thuppothed to be here. I'm the ruler of thith game. Why don't any of you know thith?" King Candy asked, growing frustrated. He rounded on the racers. "Children, tell them! You know who I am, right?"

"Er... Yeah... See..." Mallow mumbled.

"Well... We... Uh... Well... Uh..." Jacks mumbled as well.

"You...were more or less...given the ax," Mallow said gently.

King Candy stared in confusion. "...The ax? What ax?"

"Look, King Candy, you're not the ruler of Sugar Rush anymore. I am," Vanellope explained nervously.

.o.o.o.o.

The cybrid's eyes fell shut. His head and heart were full of a mishmash of thoughts and emotions, all conflicting with one another. None of it made sense.

Much like my life right now, King Candy thought with a bitter chuckle.

There were so many questions that bubbled up inside. How did this happen? Why? Most of all…why him?

.o.o.o.o.

Jacks stuttered a bit as Mallow sighed.

"You're... Well... Uh..." Jacks mumbled.

"You're not supposed to exist," Mallow said pretty bluntly. "You were either supposedly killed off by a deranged virus who took over or your code was never finished and was used to create the avatar for said virus who is, indeed, the person we call Turbo. We thought you were dead."

"I wath... What?!" King Candy backed up a few steps, eyes wide in shock. He suddenly giggled nervously. "...What are you talking about, ahoohoo? Of courthe I'm thuppothed to exitht. I'm Thugar Ruth'th ruler."

"Maybe originally, but you didn't end up existing. Not as a full character, anyway," Cocoa said firmly. "All you were was a skeleton code, just bits and pieces that never got completed. The ruler of Sugar Rush is Vanellope, sir. Not you. You're only here now because Turbo used your code to manipulate this game. He nearly destroyed everything..."

King Candy stood there in shock for a moment before stepping back, tails dropping. "...Tho, I'm technically not alive."

"No! You're alive! Only because half of Turbo's code latched onto what little coding your avatar had!" Felix said quickly, trying to alleviate the situation. "Sick as it is to say it...you're only here because of Turbo. If it wasn't for him, you'd still be incomplete avatar coding..."

"...Oh. I...think I get it now." King Candy withdrew slightly. "And thith Turbo...did horrible thingth to Thugar Ruth...uthing my form. I thee..."

.o.o.o.o.

Turbo…

King Candy couldn't recall hearing such a name before. Then again, as far as he'd been told just a short time ago, he'd ceased to exist before Sugar Rush was plugged in. He'd been unable to learn about and interact with any of the other games in the arcade. He had no knowledge whatsoever about Sugar Rush's current place within the arcade life.

Except that Vanellope was the ruler. The princess—err, president—of Sugar Rush.

I'm never going to get used to that, the cybrid thought, sighing.

"Prethident Vanellope," he said experimentally.

He was used to royalty titles. This 'president' thing was foreign to him. Where in the world did Vanellope get such an odd title from? Wasn't 'princess' just fine?

.o.o.o.o.

"Look, I know it's a lot to take in...but we'll be straight with you. There are a lot of folks here with bad memories involving you—er, your form. Turbo did a lot of bad stuff while he played ruler in your place," Felix explained gently, resting a gloved hand on one of the cybrid's insect legs. "It might take a while, but I'm sure if everyone was given some time, they'll accept you back."

"Not after that announcement we gave this morning, they won't. Everyone will associate him with Turbo," Calhoun argued. "We need to find Turbo and have him dealt with before we even think of trying to reintroduce King Candy to the racers."

"Yeah," Vanellope nodded. "...I guess he could stay here."

"Vanellope, no!" Ralph barked, having been by the door the whole time. "He's dangerous! Even if he isn't Turbo, he's still part cybug. He could hurt you."

"I won't hurt anyone. I'll be good," King Candy said, folding his legs under him until he was primarily flat against the ground. "Monarch'th word of honor. I don't want to hurt anyone either. I jutht..."

The cybrid trailed off, staring at the ground. He looked troubled and it was no wonder why. Everything he had known had been torn to shreds in a matter of minutes. There was nothing left for him to say to justify himself. He had nothing...

.o.o.o.o.

King Candy lifted his head, looking out the massive glass doors that gave him what was likely the best view of Sugar Rush imaginable. If he really wanted to, he could go out on the balcony and watch any race he pleased…only it was advised he stayed hidden due to the similar appearance he now held to Turbo.

Turbo… It was Turbo that caused him to look like this. Turbo had used his avatar to terrorize Vanellope and falsely rule over the other racers. He'd done so many horrible things to everyone.

It's no wonder I'm suddenly so unwelcome here, King Candy realized, resting his head on his arms again. A king is supposed to be loved by his subjects, not hated…but I'm not a king anymore. What do I have left here?

.o.o.o.o.

Mallow walked over to the cybrid. "Not everybody may know that you wouldn't hurt anybody, but I know you wouldn't. I mean, you had the perfect chance to eat me back there and instead of doing it when you had the chance, you practically gave me a monster hug and even put me down. I'm sure that when we explain to everyone when this blows over, they'll know that you're not the bad guy here."

"Poor King Candy..." Cotton whimpered.

"Must suck to find out you weren't even supposed to exist and when you finally do exist, some psycho messed up your chances of acceptance because they wanted a game for themselves," Pepper muttered, shoving her glasses up her nose.

The cybrid sighed before looking at Mallow, forcing out a small smile. "Thank you, Mallow. That meanth a lot, hearing that from you. I'm truly thorry for whatever thith Turbo perthon did to any of you while uthing my avatar. You ethpecially, Vanellope."

"...No problem," Vanellope said, forcing a smile.

.o.o.o.o.

King Candy smiled at the memory. I still have something. Mallow and the others still care for me despite all this. They still…want me around.

He looked out the glass doors again, brow furrowed. He frowned.

Turbo… He's still wandering this game. He could hurt someone, the ex-king thought. I may not be king anymore…but this is still my home. I want to help protect it, even if I'm not in charge anymore. I…want to do my part to protect this game.

He got up and stretched, yawning.

But that can wait until tomorrow. Perhaps I can show everyone…that I'm not a monster, like Turbo is. Maybe I can use this virus form for something good…?