Chapter 8: She once was a friend of mine

Ajain: You HAVE to watch Days of Thunder! It's the ultimate racing movie ever! With Cars coming in a close second.

Dixie Darlin: Hey, Gloyd said whatever Vanellope would give him, he would take it on the chin. Plus, Felix and Calhoun needed more time in my stories, I have barely mentioned them at all.

Ryan Stoppable: You try riding in a car next to the same person you hate. Racing in separate racing karts really lets off the steam.

A Sugar Coated RIVALRY

Dinner went okay for Taffyta and Vanellope as they had fun on their 'drive' over. The same could not be said about Gloyd and Rancis however. Both were shaking and on the verge of wetting themselves from the evil glares Calhoun gave them earlier. Taffyta could sense not everyone was enjoying the quiet, so she decide to break the ice and cleared her throat, gathering the attention of everyone at the table. "So Calhoun, how did you know what to do to control our rivalry?" Taffyta asked and took a sip of chocolate milk. Calhoun looked up from her plate and burrowed her eyes into Taffyta's.

"I am a Sergeant in my game. I take a leadership role soldier," Calhoun explained, "I can quell fights and turn enemies into friends if needed," she finished and went back to eating her dinner. Vanellope and Taffyta looked over at each other. They knew that they were once friends, but that was the last thing they were concerned about. The events of the past few days really took a toll on their rational thinking and made them forget about their past friendship. But the biggest problem for them now was they were too afraid to try to become friends again and screwing it up, all over again. Ralph, who wasn't very hungry, was picking at his food, thinking about the past 30 years.

"You know Vanellope," he began, "Felix and I have been here for 30 years and counting, and I can tell you that despite our differences, we remained sort of friends if you catch my drift. What I think you two should do to try to be friends again is practice racing together, work on your karts together because you both have one thing in common: Your passion for racing!" He explained. Gloyd and Rancis both wanted the rivalry over and immediately sided with Ralph.

"He is right Nelly," Rancis said and turned to Vanellope, "if you and Taffyta spend time together doing what you both love and without undermined tricks, you two can become friends again fast!" Again, Vanellope and Taffyta looked at each other but this time smiled. Surprisingly, Felix burst out in confusion.

"WOAH! TIME OUT HERE!" He said rather loudly, startling even his wife, "what about that evil video Taffyta made? Can Vanellope really trust her after that?" He demanded. Everyone then turned to Vanellope, who shrank down at being put in the spotlight like this.

"Well, like your wife said Uncle Felix, we just have to learn to get past our differences and trust each other," Vanellope said nervously. "By the way, did you destroy that video Taffyta?" Vanellope asked. Taffyta ignored her and took a big gulp of her drink, darting her eyes around looking for an excuse to not have to talk. Rancis, Gloyd, Ralph, Vanellope, Felix and Calhoun gasped.

"TAFFY!" Gloyd shouted, garnering attention from everyone else in the restaurant, "You said you would destroy that when we hung out a few hours back!" he said through gritted teeth. Taffyta gulped down the rest of her drink.

"Well, I will once we get home, I promise, but I still need to give Crumbelina her camera back," Taffyta said, earning a glare from Calhoun.

"You shouldn't have even made that video tape in the first place soldier," Calhoun said, " especially since it was smearing against your leader," she finished. Their waiter came by with their checks and dropped them on the table.

"Just put it on my tab Jolly!" Vanellope called out as she left their waiter a generous tip. The waiter smiled and nodded as everyone left the restaurant. Calhoun took a look at Vanellope and Taffyta as she pulled out her hoverboard.

"So, you two made a good first step, but you still have work to do," she said, "and if you have any problems or questions, just ask me alright?" Calhoun told them. Taffyta and Vanellope looked unsurely at each other as Ralph, Felix and Calhoun left the game. Gloyd took Taffyta's hand and Rancis took Vanellope's hand.

"So, would you two mind telling us why in the hell you tried to kill each other on the way over here?" Gloyd asked. The two girls were shocked out of their minds.

"And how did you know about that Pumpkin Pie?" Taffyta asked and squeezed the hell out of Gloyd's hand. Gloyd groaned in pain and collapsed to the ground. Rancis sighed and turned to his girlfriend.

"If you want to know how we know, Candlehead texted Gloyd and I that you two were literally racing over here, trying to kill each other, and almost ran her over," Rancis said to Vanellope. "Oh yeah and there's that," Rancis continued and pointed over at the two karts that were destroyed. Vanellope giggled nervously and rubbed the back of her head.

"Well, about that Flugs," she said and smashed her lips onto his. For the first time she could ever remember, Rancis pushed her kiss away.

"Not this time Nelly, I want you to tell me why you disobeyed Calhoun," Rancis stated sternly. Vanellope gasped at the tone of Rancis' voice. Rancis raised an eyebrow, waiting for her answer.

"Okay Rancis, Taffyta and I are fierce competitors; we couldn't let one or the other drive one of us. So, we came up with the best solution: Race each other. Almost running over Candlehead was an accident, she shouldn't have been in the middle of the road," Vanellope said. She let her big hazel eyes grow bigger and she quivered her lower lip to get Rancis to soften up. Luckily for her, he melted like butter and kissed her.

"That's my girl," he said after the kiss. "See how much better it is when you admit the truth Nelly?" Rancis asked. Vanellope nodded and let go of Rancis.

"Yeah Rancis," Vanellope replied, "I just didn't want to tell Calhoun. She would kill Taffyta and I for not doing what she told us. But you gotta admit, this was was better," Vanellope continued. One of the candy valet started up Vanellope's kart and it collapsed.

"Well, your kart is destroyed, I hope you had fun on the drive over," Rancis said as he escorted her to his kart. "Come on babe, let's go get ready for our movie night," Rancis continued. Just then, Vanellope's phone rang and she answered.

"Yes? Oh hey Mario, what's up?" Vanellope asked. Rancis could hear Mario's voice on the other end but couldn't really make out what he was exactly saying. Vanellope's eyes lit up at the end of the call. "OF COURSE WE CAN MARIO!" She shouted into the phone and hung up.

"What was that all about Nelly?" Rancis asked as he started up the RV1.

"Mario just invited us to race in Mario Kart tonight!" Vanellope said excitedly. Rancis' eyes lit up.

"That would be awesome Nelly, but I'd just rather cuddle with you tonight and watch movies," Rancis admitted. Vanellope texted Jubileena the big news and turned to Rancis.

"Well, unless you can find someone to take your place, you're going to race," Vanellope said sternly.

(With Swizzle and Jubileena)

With Jubileena's quality nursing, Swizzle was back to full health soon. "Jubee, I can't thank you enough for taking care of me," Swizzle said and kissed Jubileena. She hugged him after they broke the kiss and started to cry, worrying Swizzle who was normally cool. "JUBEE! What's wrong baby?" Swizzle asked, wanting to cheer her up.

"N-nothing Swizzy," she said as she wiped a tear from her eye. "I just was so worried wh-when you were kidnapped and then we found you unconscious. But now that you're back, I-I'm so happy!" She said and threw her arms back around Swizzle. Swizzle took in what she had said and started to tear up too.

"Jubileena," he whispered, "I'm so lucky to have someone like you to love me as much as you do. "I'm so glad I have you," Swizzle said as he kissed her again and laid her down on her bed. Both were tired and exhausted for the events of the past 24 hours. Swizzle pulled the covers over them and wrapped his arms around his girl. Jubileena sighed dreamily and snuggled her head into the crook of his neck and kissed it. The two drifted off to a peaceful sleep together, that is until Jubileena's doorbell rang.

"UGH!" Jubileena screeched, "This had better be GOOD!" she screamed again. The two got up from the bed and walked over to the door. Jubileena swung it open to reveal Taffyta and Gloyd standing there.

"Hey, there you two are!" Gloyd said cheerfully.

"YOU!" Swizzle and Jubileena shouted at the same time.

"Hey, we come in peace and to make amends," Taffyta said. Jubileena threw a cherry bomb at the two, scaring the shit out of them. They dove out of the way just as it exploded. "WOAH! THAT'S A LITTLE EXTREME!" Gloyd shouted. Jubileena ran up and grabbed him by the collar.

"I'M STILL PISSED AT YOU ORANGEBOAR!" She threatened him. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM SWIZZLE," she said and threw him against a tree. Taffyta pulled Jubileena away from Gloyd to talk to her.

"He just wants to talk and apologize," Taffyta explained with a strained voice. Jubileena snorted and looked back at Gloyd who was picking himself up from the dirt.

"Fine, but Gloyd better watch it or I'll kick his ass again," Jubileena warned. Gloyd made his way back over to the front door where Swizzle was standing.

"Swizzle," Gloyd began and stuck out his hand. Swizzle shifted his eyes from the hand to Gloyd's face.

"Orangeboar," Swizzle replied.

"Okay, I just wanted to say I am sorry to the both of you for what I did," Gloyd admitted, "I don't really know why I did it, all I do know is that is was wrong and I hurt the both of you and your group. It's not me and I really hope you two can forgive me for what I did and we can get past it," Gloyd apologized. Swizzle had his arms crossed and was studying Gloyd's body language to see if he was lying at all. "And to make it fair, since Jubileena already kicked my ass, you can punch me Swizz," Gloyd said as he closed his eyes and stuck out his chin. Swizzle peered over Gloyd and looked at Jubileena and Taffyta. Both girls nodded for him to go through with it.

"Alright Gloyd, if it'll make you feel better," Swizzle said as he clinched his fist. He swung it over to Gloyd and punched his crotch. Gloyd let out a painful groan and collapsed. He bent down to Gloyd and whispered in his ear, "Now we're even," and bent back up. Jubileena cracked a smile while Taffyta ran over to her boyfriend.

"Are you alright boo-boo?" Taffyta asked and kissed Gloyd's cheek.

"Boo-boo?" Jubileena asked and giggled. Both Taffyta and Gloyd glared at Jubileena and Swizzle.

"DON'T JUDGE US," the two said coldly. After Gloyd healed his gumballs, the four stood in awkward silence.

"Well, I heard Vanellope and Rancis were invited to race over in Mario Kart," Gloyd said.

"Well then, let's head over. Maybe they'll let one of us race too," Taffyta said as the four set off.

(In Mario Kart)

Vanellope and Rancis were talking with Peach and Mario about racing. "Again Mario, thanks for letting us race here," Vanellope said as she shook his hand. Mario let out his bellowing laugh.

"No-a problem Presidenta Vanellope," Mario said with his Italian accent, "It is-a an honor to have you a-race with a-us tonight at my race track!" He said happily. Vanellope and Rancis chuckled at the funny accent. Then, Taffyta, Gloyd, Jubileena, and Swizzle showed up to the race track in their karts.

"SWIZZ!" Rancis shouted and ran up to fist bump Swizzle, "I've missed ya man!" Rancis said as the two bro-hugged.

"I missed ya too Fluggerbutter, but I had the hottest nurse in the world look after me," he said with a wink toward Jubileena. Jubileena blushed and waved over to him.

"It is good to see you again Swizzle," Vanellope called over to him. Swizzle smiled at her.

"So, you and Vanellope are racing tonight?" Swizzle asked Rancis. Rancis nodded.

"Well yeah, I really don't want to though, say, if one of you four want to take my spot, you can," Rancis said as it started to rain in the game. Taffyta immediately raised her hand.

"I'll take your spot Rancis," she said cheerfully and put her goggles on to keep the rain out of her eyes. "Well, that seems fine," Princess Peach said. Suddenly, the announcer called everyone to their karts. The drivers got in and buckled their seat belts. Rancis kissed Vanellope on the cheek and Gloyd did the same for Taffyta. Rancis, Gloyd, Swizzle, and Jubileena went up to a VIP box to watch the one lap race.

"Good luck Taffyta, second place is calling your name," Vanellope teased Taffyta.

"In your dreams Von Schweetz" Taffyta called back as the lights began counting down. When the light hit green, everyone mashed down on the gas pedal. Since both of them had never raced on wet asphalt before, Taffyta and Vanellope struggled to keep their karts straight. They kept their spirits up and tried their best. They found themselves riding in the back with other struggling racers who were having problems seeing the track through the spray from the track and the condensation on their goggles. Up ahead of them, Donkey Kong had been hit with a red turtle shell and was sitting on the track.

"YIKES!" Vanellope shouted and swerved around the road hazard. Taffyta moved around the kart as well.

"Tougher than it looks eh Vanellope?" Taffyta called out. Vanellope nodded as they raced side by side to reduce the water spray hitting their faces. Going through the final few turns, Toad hit the wall and spun out in front of the whole field. Mario and Luigi missed the wreck, but others behind them weren't so lucky. Taffyta had gotten a better run off the final turn and pulled ahead of Vanellope. They made it through the wreck, but Taffyta hit oil and water and spun out. With the smoke, water spray and wetness of the track, Vanellope couldn't slow down and slammed into the driver side door of Taffyta's kart. The force of the hit made Taffyta's kart fly in circles over to a wall and nose dive it. Vanellope's back end lifted off the ground and she began barrel rolling down the front stretch. Both karts came to a rest on their wheels with the crowd and other racers silent. Both Vanellope and Taffyta were silent and not moving.

"NELLY!" Rancis shouted as he jumped down from the VIP box.

"TAFFYTA!" Gloyd shouted at the same time and followed Rancis. They both knelt down in front of their girlfriends' karts. They both had tears running down their faces along with the rain.

"No, not again," Jubileena said sadly as Swizzle held her. Swizzle looked on as on track personnel attended to Vanellope and Taffyta.

"Why does this keep happening to us?" He asked himself as he turned both he and Jubileena away from the window.

(End Chapter 8)

Okay, how's that for a cliffhanger? Sorry about the 10 day wait. I had to work everyday last week 12 hours a day. Sorry if this chapter didn't meet certain expectations, but this was planned out to happen. If anyone has seen Days of Thunder, you'll know what happens next. And we only have two chapters left! PLUS: FORTY NINE REVIEWS? OMG, with the amount of followers fifty will come to fruition today, but really again, thank you all who have followed and reviewed since Chapter 1. I'll try to get this story finished up soon to work on Nights of Lightning and my newest story, Start Your Engines.