Chapter 17: Taffyta And Taffyel

Meanwhile, Vanellope, Rancis, Jubileena, Gloyd, Swizzle, Minty, Snowanna, Candi, Crumbelina, Citrusella, Torvald, Nougetsia, Candace, Toxika, and Damon landed near the castle after an hour of unsuccessfully searching for Licortwist. Once they were on the ground, Swizzle faced everyone.

"Guys, we have to keep looking for Licortwist. Even though he's seemed to have disappeared, he's always shown up later. But there may not be enough time for that." Swizzle said.

Vanellope nodded and was about to speak. But before she could, Creamy, Crepe, and Ashley drove up in the Kit Kart. The three of them got out of the kart and ran up to the others.

"Guys, we have bad news." Creamy said.

The Sugar Rush racers, Candace, Toxika, and Damon looked at Creamy, Crepe, and Ashley with confused expressions.

"What's wrong, Creamy?" Candi asked.

"Licortwist's teamed up with five new characters, and whatever the reason for that is, it's not good." Creamy replied.

Citrusella froze and turned to Creamy.

"Creamy, were there five people that looked like racers that teamed up with Licortwist?" Citrusella asked.

Creamy thought about it and then nodded.

"Yeah, they were. I've read up on who they were a long time ago, and from what I've learned, they are a group of very dangerous people that are called the Forgotten racers." Creamy replied.

"Where did they go?" Sticky asked.

"I'm not exactly sure as to where they went, but I'm pretty sure that they headed to the Black Licorice Backwoods." Creamy replied.

Vanellope nodded and turned back to the Sugar Rush racers, Candace, Toxika, and Damon.

"Alright, let's head to the Black Licorice Backwoods." Vanellope announced.

The Sugar Rush racers, Candace, Toxika, and Damon nodded, and they held onto Minty. However, before they could fly off, Crepe spoke up.

"Wait, can I go with you?" Crepe asked.

Vanellope raised an eyebrow.

"Why would you want to come with us? You don't have any powers to protect yourself, and we don't have time to give you any." Vanellope asked.

Crepe frowned.

"Actually, your wrong about me not having powers." Crepe said.

Suddenly, Crepe vanished. The Sugar Rush racers, Candace, Toxika, Damon, Creamy, and Ashley were startled, but then they looked more closely and saw an outline of her.

"Crepe!" Ashley exclaimed.

Crepe reappeared before them.

"I was programmed with that ability. I know it's a little crazy, but it's also kind of cool too." Crepe said.

Vanellope turned to the Sugar Rush racers, Candace, Toxika, and Damon.

"What do you guys think? Should we let her help us?" Vanellope asked.

Jubileena nodded.

"Yeah, sure. She seems like she could be valuable help to the team." Jubileena replied.

The other Sugar Rush racers, Candace, Toxika, and Damon said similar things. Vanellope nodded and turned back to Crepe.

"Alright, Crepe, you can help us." Vanellope announced.

Crepe smiled.

"Thank you." Crepe said.

Vanellope smiled and turned to Creamy and Ashley.

"As for you, Creamy, take Ashley back to your and Rancis's house, and wait there until we deal with Licortwist and the Forgotten racers." Vanellope ordered.

Creamy nodded and turned to Ashley.

"Come on, Ashley." Creamy said.

Ashley nodded, and she and Creamy got back into the Kit Kart and drove off. Once they were gone, Minty flew off with the other Sugar Rush racers, Candace, Toxika, Damon, and Crepe.

Meanwhile, Adorabeezle and Taffyel moved Taffyta and Candlehead to Adorabeezle and Nougetsia's house, where they could get some rest. And the other new characters, Fatima, and Katie had found out about Taffyta and Candlehead getting injured, so they stopped by in order to wait for them to heal.

Candlehead had thankfully survived getting her head slammed hard on the ground, but she had suffered a fracture to the back of her skull and the resulting impact had caused a mild contusion in her brain, so she was resting in one of the guest rooms. She was currently asleep, and Kandle had insisted that he stay with her to Adorabeezle, who reluctantly agreed as long as he didn't disturb her.

As for Taffyta, Adorabeezle had cleaned and closed her wound. In his attempt to penetrate the area above Taffyta's chest, Licortwist had actually avoided piercing her lung. The only internal damage was some muscle damage and a nick to her scapula, where the licorice piece had exited. She was going to pull through just fine. Now it was just a matter of keeping the wound clean and keeping her calm.

After getting treated, Taffyta had found that she wasn't able to sleep, so she just laid down on the bed and read a magazine. As she read her magazine, Taffyel knocked on the doorway to the guest room.

"Taffyta? Are you awake?" Taffyel asked in a gentle but worried voice.

Rolling over on the bed, Taffyta looked up and saw Taffyel standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Taffyel. What's up?" Taffyta asked, slowly sitting up.

Taffyel looked guilty as he entered the room.

"I've been worried." Taffyel replied.

"About what?" Taffyta asked.

Taffyel approached Taffyta and brushed his fingers lightly along Taffyta's bandages.

"About you. Are you doing alright?" Taffyel asked quietly.

"It doesn't hurt much. It's pretty shallow... and Adorabeezle got me patched up. You don't have to worry about me." Taffyta replied softly.

Taffyel sighed and sat down beside her.

"But I do. I was so... I really thought that he was going to kill you, Taffyta." Taffyel said.

Taffyta smirked.

"Nah. If it was that easy, someone else would have gotten me a long time ago. I can handle myself, really." Taffyta said in a reassuring tone.

But the fear in Taffyel's eyes didn't seem to be easing up even a little bit.

"It isn't... that I don't believe you, Taffyta." Taffyel said slowly.

Taffyel began to reach a hand forward to touch Taffyta's cheek before seeming to think better of it. Instead, his hand fell to rest on Taffyta's knee.

"It's just... it scared me. I don't know what I would do if you died, even though I just met you earlier today." Taffyel said, gripping her knee a little tighter.

"Taffyel?" Taffyta asked nervously, feeling a tremor pass through her body at the sudden intensity of his grip.

If Taffyel was saying what she thought he was saying...

"Taffyta, I'm not... I'm not looking for anything from you. I just... so much has happened... I want to tell you the truth. You don't have to do anything with it. I just want you to know how I feel... in case we don't come through this." Taffyel replied.

Taffyta didn't give Taffyel a chance to finish. Before she could talk herself out of it or lose her nerve, she closed the already minimal distance between them and pressed her lips firmly against Taffyel's. The boy gasped faintly into the kiss, but he didn't pull back. Taffyta felt him tremble as she gripped his shoulders tightly. Taffyel's grip also tightened noticeably as his hand moved from her knee to her inner thigh. As much as Taffyta ached to deepen the kiss, she was also content to stay right there in that moment forever, feeling the softness of Taffyel's lips against her's.

"Is this real? Can this really be happening to me?" Taffyta wondered.

When the pair finally separated for air, they both just sat where they were, eyes closed and enjoying the lingering taste. When Taffyta finally opened her eyes, it was to the sight of Taffyel's enraptured face.

"What... what was that... you were saying?" Taffyta got herself to ask, reaching a hand up to trace Taffyel's bottom lip with her thumb.

When Taffyel's eyes finally blinked open, there was an intoxicated smile on his face.

"I... I..." Taffyel stuttered.

Taffyta smirked and closed the space between her and Taffyel in another heated kiss.

Back in the Black Licorice Backwoods, a motorcycle drove up to Licortwist's castle and then came to a stop on the ground in front of the castle. A slick black boot stepped down from the bike and gave the kickstand a quick strike so that the motorcycle would rest up right. A man held up a small piece of paper that read 'Licorice Castle', and then he folded it and placed it away.

"This is the place." the man thought.

The man had pale skin, three scars that ran vertical from left to right on his face, long brown hair, and green eyes, and he wore black combat fatigues, a tactical vest that had multiple weapons attached to it on the front side while an odachi was attached on the back side, and a mask that was black on the right side and white on the left side with lines along the white side. The man made his way up to the front door of the castle, looking on either side of him as he did. Once he reached the door, he reached out his hand to open it, but before he could grab it, the door suddenly opened automatically. The man cracked his neck and stepped inside, and the door slammed shut behind him. The man slid his foot over for balance, took out two katanas that were attached to the sides of his body, and raised them up in defense.

"Whoa there, partner! There's no need to get all defensive." a voice said.

A light switched on over at a table, revealing Licortwist.

"Over here! You must be the homicidal tough guy that I hired!" Licortwist ordered.

The man took a few steps closer to the table and put the katanas back in their sheathes.

"The name's Jin Stryker." the man introduced lowly.

Jin looked at the table and saw Licortwist. He softly laughed to himself and continued speaking.

"And who are you?" Jin asked.

"I'm the guy who hired you... Licortwist? Ringing any bells?" Licortwist asked.

Jin slowly nodded his head.

"Sure, I remember you." Jin replied.

Licortwist nodded.

"Okay then, follow me." Licortwist ordered.

Licortwist got up from the table, and he and Jin made their way to the throne room. Once in the throne room, Licortwist sat down in his throne and pulled out the newspaper ad that he had used to find Jin's information.

"As you know, I read your ad and contacted you..." Licortwist started to explain.

Jin nodded softly to himself, removed his mask, and took out a crinkled pack of cigarettes. After lighting one, he placed it to his mouth as Licortwist went on with his explanation.

"And now I'd like to discuss..." Licortwist continued to explain.

Licortwist paused as he was overwhelmed suddenly by a blanket of smoke that came from the cigarette. He coughed and waved his hand across his face.

"You know, I'd actually prefer if you didn't smoke in my home." Licortwist said.

Jin paused, lowered the cigarette, and looked at Licortwist with stern question.

"Fine then." Jin said in a gruff tone.

Jin flipped the cigarette upright and then flipped it's position again, and with his thumb and the lit half of the cigarette to his forefinger, he snuffed the light and a small sizzling sound signified that the cigarette was out. He then flicked the cigarette, which landed directly at Licortwist's feet.

"Lets get this over with." Jin said.

Licortwist nodded and tossed a file separator towards Jin.

"You'll find everything you'll need for the job in there." Licortwist explained.

Jin grabbed the file and opened it. As he did, a snapshot slid into his hand. He looked at it and saw a picture of the Sugar Rush racers, Cinndon, Candace, Toxika, and the new characters, with the words 'Big Threat' written on the bottom of the picture. Jin slammed his hand down on a table, which made Licortwist flinch slightly.

"What is this, a joke?" Jin asked angrily.

Licortwist rolled his eyes.

"I thought this would happen. Look, it may not look like it, but these people, especially the girl wearing the teal hoodie, are always in the way! They need to be taken care of once and for all, and your the right person for the job." Licortwist replied.

Jin's face was expressionless as he thought it over. He then put back on his mask and faced Licortwist.

"What do you want done?" Jin asked.

"I'm so glad you asked! You might want to take this down." Licortwist replied.

Jin reached behind him and pulled out a small spiral bound notebook. He flipped it to an available page and then looked back at Licortwist.

"Good, now I'd like it very much for you to find them. I don't care about what happens to them. Use your creativity."

Jin slowly finished writing everything down and put the notebook away.

"Right... I'll do whatever I want to them. I just got some new weapons that I've been dying to try out." Jin said.

Licortwist smiled.

"Excellent!" Licortwist said.

Jin nodded and turned around.

"That's it then." Jin said.

Jin turned around and walked out of the throne room. He made through the castle, pushing the front door open effortlessly and exiting. Licortwist walked out behind him.

"How do I know that you'll get the job done?" Licortwist asked.

Jin got onto the motorcycle.

"Because Jin Stryker always gets his man." Jin replied.

And Licortwist watched as Jin popped a wheelie and speed off down the road, soon disappearing from sight.

"Wow, he's good." Licortwist thought.

Licortwist walked back into the castle.