(A/N: Borrowed the chapter title from another Wreck-It Ralph story I'm working on, only because it fits the content so perfectly. "A butterfly's wingbeat..." is this chapter's motif. It's the little details that matter here. Pay attention. And, once again, I play with the pallet-swaps. They are my little toys. And Taffyta is a royal bitch. Also, originally unicorns were goat-based, not horse-based. Even though Sprinkles looks like a horse-unicorn, I am taking artistic liberties. I like a goat-unicorn better anyway. Feels ahoy!)
Taffyta glared holes in Vanellope's head as she stared at the Roster. Why? Why the Void was she allowing pallet-swaps to race?! She knew for a fact that she had not—nor had anyone else—voted for the Swizz. So why wasn't he there, on the Roster? Neither was Rancis, or Snowanna for that matter.
"I don't understand why you're letting the pallet-swaps on the Roster? Where are Rancis, Swizzle, and Snowanna? They were supposed to race today!" Candlehead chimed, looking confused—and, to the relief of the pallet-swaps, not irritated at the pallet-swaps for existing—unlike Taffyta.
"Well...y'see...," Vanellope stammered, the four pallet-swaps standing behind her looking nervous as well.
Not prepared for that, were you Your Hoity-toity-ness? Oh, she was penitent at first, scared she would be punished for her wrongdoings, but when the novelty and epinephrine wore off – alley-oop! – back to the Taffyta that Vanellope knew and 'loved'.
"Look; they just caught a small virus s'all. Dr. Mario's working on it—m'sure you've seen him comin' and goin' lately—and we should be golden. That being said: the pallet-swaps are just as a part of this game as we are!" They brightened, entire faces lighting up at her words. "Therefore, at least one pallet-swap is on the Roster per day, and you'll treat 'em no different than y'would any other Roster member." There were hushed murmurs in the crowd, glances exchanged, and rumours started as the normal racers took in this information. "Since Torvald took Rancis' place yesterday, Nougetsia, Citrusella, and Sticky will be racing today in the sick racer's spots. I've already entered the info into the Code, so no grumblin' about it Taffyta."
Taffyta bristled, how dare that Glitch call her out?! How dare she?!
"And thusly ends our gathering! Meeting adjourned!" Vanellope glitched away, a cheeky grin in place, and saluted the pallet-swaps before hopping in the Jaw Breaker and driving off. "Good luck girls!"
"Thanks so much Vanellope!" Citrusella squealed.
"Thank you!" Sticky called out. Nougetsia simply blushed and waved. Their president drove off in a cloud of powdered sugar and sprinkles, and was gone.
Taffyta fumed silently, her dark mood picked up by Candlehead and—in lieu of Rancis—Jubileena Bing-Bing, who gravitated away from her while the remainder of the racers remained oblivious to their impeding doom.
"She's going on the warpath...," Candlehead whispered to Jubileena. The cherry-themed racer nodded and tried to scurry away from the simmering time-bomb that was Tafftya. Gloyd Orangeboar, on the other hand, decided now would be the perfect time to play the perfect prank.
With a flick of the wrist, he tossed a single piece of candy corn down the back of her shirt, and whistled loudly. In the distance, a cloud of chocolate powder was getting closer, accompanied by the sound of hoofbeats and bleating. Then, almost out of nowhere, Skittles the uni-candy-corn tackled Taffyta to the ground, snuffling around in her clothes in search of the piece of candy corn. His beard tickled her shoulders and he left lines of slobber all down her back as she writhed and shrieked. While Candlehead and Jubileena looked on horrified, Gloyd was doubled over laughing.
"Oh Edison! This is hilarious! Get 'er Skittles!" Gloyd wheezed, he was laughing so hard. He had fallen to the ground and was kicking his legs frantically with each giggly shriek he let out. The other racers had long-since realised that this was not a good idea, and were backing away from Taffyta, who had gotten the candy corn out and was headed towards Gloyd, murder present in her glare.
"You little jerk!" Taffyta seized Gloyd by his collar and hoisted him up by the collar of his uniform. His feet dragged the ground, limply now, as he stared into the Void radiating from her eyes, mirth fading.
"Aww, c'mon Taffyta. It was just a little joke. You still have a sense of humour, don'tcha?" Gloyd stammered weakly, fearing for his life now. Taffyta was an angel when she wanted to be, and a demon when she didn't. Now was one of those demon times.
She leaned in close to Gloyd, giving him a good view of her smeared mascara and dripping hair, and growled, "If that was funny, I'm sure that you'll find your trip to the Diet Cola Hot Springs an absolute hoot."
Gloyd froze, horror flashing across his face, "No. Please no! I-I'll be good, I promise! Please don't!"
"C'mon Taffyta, that's enough." Torvald stepped in front of the racer, hands on her hips. "You're just being mean now."
Taffyta dropped Gloyd and glared at Torvald, radiating a dangerous aura. "What did you say to me, recolour?"
Torvald flinched at the slur and then steeled her gaze, staring down the lollipop racer, "You need to quit. Just because things aren't going your way, doesn't mean you get to pitch a fit. We may be Programmed as children, but you need to act more your age. Ten years in Litwak's should'veallowed you to mature more. Looks like you're still an immature brat."
Tafftya fumbled for words, stumbling over her syllables and stammering as she searched for a rebuttal, "Yeah? Well...I-I don't care what you think, recolour !"
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Citrusella commented, taking a stand next to Torvald.
"Yeah," Sticky added, "what's so bad about being pallet-swap anyway? Or, as you put it, recolour" She and Nougetsia stood next to their fellow pallet-swaps, glaring down Taffyta. Even the confrontation-avoiding Adorabeezle pallet-swap was taking a stand against the bullying Taffyta was doing.
Taffyta floundered, suddenly outnumbered, "I—that is—you—"
"You don't even have the guts to attack us when there's more than one of us around. You—we—did the same thing to Vanellope, and you know what? She found it in her heart to forgive you, to forgive all of us; and you have the gall to continue to hate and bully anyone who doesn't agree with you. How pathetic is that?!" The other racers agreed with Sticky, nodding and murmuring about how badly Taffyta treated them.
Candlehead spoke up, "Tafftya, Rancis and I are your friends but...sometimes you scare us. We wanna' be there for you, but you push everyoneaway, and you're so mean to us. We're your friends, not your lackeys and, well, unless you can figure out a way to change your 'tude, we're not gonna' be friends much longer." She looked at her feet nervously, "And, cause I've always been kinda' worried how you would react, I've never said that...I think the re—pallet swaps—are kinda' cool..."
The other racers began to clap and cheer, agreeing with Candlehead and wanting to let the pallet swaps know their true feelings.
"I've always thought that having a pallet swap was like having a twin...kinda neat," Jubileena admitted.
"I always just admired you from afar, being to scared to say anything to you directly," Adorabeezle said.
"You two are such good friends it makes me jealous some times," Minty Zaki commented.
The others, including Gloyd, who got back up and dusted himself off after petting Skittles for a minute, swarmed the pallet swaps and asked them questions.
Forgotten and angry, Taffyta skulked away, her form flickering a bright red. Stupid recolours, I'll show them. I'll show them all!
/\/\3|)1( \/\/4|?|)
Rancis tossed and turned.
Darkness then light. Bright, flashing, blinding, it burns! Bile drips between his lips (why does this hurt, it shouldn't hurt!) he cries (please, someone save me) he thrashes in the Void (make it stop!). No, the Void replies, you will suffer...you will all suffer (someone please save me! Edison! please!).
His sheets were soaked in sweat.
He's in a kart, racing, then there's a crash. Fire, fire everywhere! (it burns! it burns!) No one will come to save him, no one cares. No one cares enough to save me...
Next to him lay Snowanna, her rainbow-coloured afro dull and limp. She, too, was thrashing in her sleep; her form flickered red and Void with the rabbit-tempo of her heartbeat.
She is a vengeful god, raining fire down upon her enemies. Die! All of you die! They tormented her, they laughed at her, they had to die! All of them had to suffer, and then perish! She laughs as she devours them, one-by-one, tendrils of red and Void spearing them and absorbing them into her collective being. They deserve it, she tells herself as she cries tears of binary, after all they've done to me...and to her...
Swizzle flopped around on his bed, tangling himself in the sheets. His breaths came in short gasps, shallow and frenzied.
The darkness is never-ending (I want to go home!), the darkness is all-devouring (please let me go!), it will never let go of its prey (please! please!). He looks back to his past, what a fool I was, a fool indeed. She is his light if only I could reach her, but I am too tainted. He reminisces oh, to turn back the hands of time. His mouth is covered (shh, you mustn't tell them) and he cannot speak (you cannot tell them) all he says are lies and echoes (you will not tell them). He is bound.
The three infected racers lay in their beds, unable to stop the torrent of nightmares that overwhelmed them. Bits of Code broke off and was replaced by Void in their sleep. Time was running out.
|-|3|?03'5 |)|_|7`/
Calhoun fired off round after round at the Cy-Bug shaped target in front of her, hitting all the vital points. She couldn't sleep—not that she had to, per se, it was a mere commodity—and there was nothing more relaxing than shooting a gun. She fired off one last round and then holstered her pistol with practiced ease as Felix approached her.
"Tammy?" His voice quavered as he walked towards his girlfriend, unsure and tired rolled into one.
"Couldn't sleep either?" She knelt down to give her boyfriend a hug, "Rough afternoon?"
"You know it," Felix sighed deeply and snuggled deeper into her arms, mindful of her breasts. "Somethin' about Turbo is rubbin' me th' wrong way. I just can't put m'finger on it..."
"I would have to agree with you, short stack. Something isn't quite kosher here. He seems far too twitchy for a normal virus."
"Yeah," Felix chimed in, pulling away and looking his girlfriend in the eyes, "and have y'noticed that he's lookin' thinner and thinner ev'ry time we see him?"
She looked pensive for a moment and when she reached a conclusion, she nodded. "I have noticed that. I thought it was just me."
"No, it's been buggin' me for some time. It's like...somethin' else is goin' on." Felix mumbled, "Like he's changin' into more than a Worm."
Calhoun and Felix spent a few moments in contemplative silence, merely enjoying each other's presence. When the time came, Felix was the one to break away, locking eyes with his girlfriend and blushing. "That's a worry for 'nother time then. You think y'can sleep now?"
"Maybe," she grinned cheekily at him, then bent down and stole a chaste kiss. "Definitely. You think you can sleep now?"
"Sure can ma'am," he replied, heart aflutter and head dizzy from her display of affection. "'Night Tammy! See you t'morrow after work!"
"Affirmative," she mreplied. "I'll see you later short-stack." With their goodbyes said, the couple parted ways and Calhoun walked to her bunker while Felix headed back to his Game.
As she snuggled beneath her military-standard sheets, Calhoun stared at Kohut's bunk above her, thinking. "Have y'noticed that he's lookin' thinner and thinner ev'ry time we see him?" Something about these events didn't add up. Turbo returns; he's infected with a Virus; he's looking thinner with each passing day; some of Sugar Rush's racers are coming down with a mysterious illness; and the Grand Prix for the next three days. So what is the lynchpin What holds these events together? What...she yawned deeply, does it all mean?...
As she drifted off to sleep, a verse of the Void's Lullaby drifted off her tongue. "Soon you will find, It's inside your mind: the Void that devours us all. Trojans and Worms, Programs don't learn; pride comes before the fall." Finally, sleep consumed her and she drifted off into dreamland.
Finally she rested.
|?3/\/\83|?
Vanellope burst with laughter as he danced, belly slopping about while he gyrated. "Look, Vanilla Bean; I'm a Jelly Belly!"
She laughed harder, mirthful tears pouring down her face, "Oh—oh my light! Edison—! Ah-hah-hah-hah-ha! P-please—! Ee-hee-hee-hee! No—! Why are you so funny?!"
"Because," he leaned in close and booped her on the nose with a grin, "I'm good at it!"
"You—you weren't when I found you," she gasped out as he continued his ridiculous motions.
His smile faltered, dropping from his eyes entirely, and then he chortled. "Ooh-hoo-hoo-hoo! But that me is long gone; buried under mountains of candy!" He threw his hands in the air and small pieces of confectionary delight rained down upon the ground; she giggled again, unaware of the sadness present in his face.
"You're th' greatest; y'know that," she sighed, her energy slowly dissipating. Her eyelids drooped and she leaned against the arms of her throne, breathing evening out.
"No," he countered, "You're the greatest." She pulled him in for a hug and he looked shocked, just for a moment, until a tearful smile took over his features.
"I...love you...Turbo...," she sighed as she snuggled deeper into his arms. A pained expression flitted across his face and he picked her up to carry her to her bed.
"...I love you too Vanellope," he admitted softly to himself, "I love you too."
