Chapter Twenty-One
Taking Sugar Rush
The last of the voltage spikes had smashed close to the wire that led to Sugar Rush, and the sound had echoed loudly through the wire and within the game. The noise caused Vanellope von Schweetz to wake up. Eyes wide in confusion, she listened for several minutes. The sound of shouting and clashing weapons soon reached her ears. She leaped out of bed and hurried to her wardrobe. With trembling hands, she grabbed her day clothes from the wardrobe. She glitched out of her nightdress and into the racer's garb.
The door burst open, revealing a disheveled Rancis. The president stumbled into the room, nearly tripping over a chest on the floor. He steadied himself along the edge of Vanellope's bed
"What…wha…" Vanellope stammered.
"Vikings," said Rancis. "Vikings. And green aliens. With lasers."
Otis and Floyd floated into the room next. Each paddle held a laser rifle with his invisible grip.
"We're being invaded-" Otis began. He paused to shoot an alien that had just arrived outside the door.
"-by some kooks from somewhere," Floyd finished for him.
"They have nice weapons," Otis added. So saying, he fired at several more aliens that had just appeared.
As the two paddles peered around the corner, a new figure appeared on the scene, dressed in brown clothing, and wearing a grey hat and poncho.
"Hey cowboy," said Floyd, firing a warning shot. "I told you to scram."
"Nah, I'll stay," said the figure. The next thing Otis and Floyd knew, their guns were flying over their foe's shoulder into the wall behind him.
"So that trick does work," said Mr. Ainsworth, glancing at the bullwhip in his hand. "I thought it was just one of those daft Hollywood stunts." He lashed out with the whip, driving the paddles back into the room.
"Then again, I'm a video game character," he continued. "I've license to do unrealistic things. Now, where's Princess Vanellope von Schweetz?"
Otis and Floyd glanced back to where Rancis was standing, and then about the room. Vanellope was nowhere in sight.
"She's in another castle," said Floyd.
"She's somewhere in this room," said Mr. Ainsworth, backing both paddles and racer towards the wall. "And when I find her-"
"Looking for me?" said a voice behind him. Mr. Ainsworth turned to see Vanellope drop from the top of a bookshelf, clutching a battle axe with both hands.
"Speak of the devil," said Mr. Ainsworth. Grinning, he walked slowly towards Vanellope. "You know how to use that thing, little lady?"
Vanellope didn't reply.
"Well, no time to teach you today," said Mr. Ainsworth. He lashed out with his bullwhip, pinning Vanellope's arms to her sides. Moving in close, he wrenched the axe out of her grip.
"You don't know how to use it, do you?"
Vanellope glitched out of the whip and darted off to one side.
"Get back here, you dirty brat!" Mr. Ainsworth snarled. He raised his arm to strike again with the whip, and then dropped it with a cry of pain as the flat of the axe's blade struck his lower back. Whirling about, he saw Rancis clutching the axe.
"You're supposed to strike with the edge, son," said Mr. Ainsworth. He kicked Rancis's legs out from under him. Before Otis, Floyd, and Vanellope could come to the president's assistance, vikings and aliens poured into the room, surrounding them in a ring of weaponry.
Mr. Ainsworth ripped the axe from Rancis's grasp and dragged the president to his feet. He then tossed him towards the vikings and aliens, who bound his hands behind his back.
"Well," said Mr. Ainsworth, looking his captives up and down. "Two kids- and two paddles I would have killed already but for my orders."
"Who are you, anyway?" Rancis sputtered.
"Mr. Jacoby Ainsworth, mercenary for hire," was the reply. "Currently employed by SANG, some of whose members surround you now." He gave Vanellope a long look, and then gestured for the guards to step aside far enough for him to approach her.
"You might not know me," he said, "but I've seen you before- you and your paddle friends."
"I've never seen you," said Vanellope.
"You don't listen, do you?" said Mr. Ainsworth. "I never said you saw me. Power outages cause darkness, and darkness hides those who sneak into arcades to shut down games."
Recognition dawned on Vanellope. She glitched toward Mr. Ainsworth. Otis and Floyd's warning to stay put was too late; Mr. Ainsworth grabbed her by the front of her jacket and slid the edge of his bowie knife along her side. Blood began to flow from the cut, staining Vanellope's hoodie. She tried to glitch again, but the effort disrupted the skin around her wound. With a scream, she dropped to the ground.
"Teleport now, little lady," said Mr. Ainsworth, wiping the blood from his knife on a small cloth he pulled from his belt. Sliding the blade back into its sheath, he turned towards Rancis, Otis, and Floyd. Rancis was visibly aghast. Otis and Floyd, lacking faces, looked impassive, but Mr. Ainsworth could practically taste the fear and bitterness they were feeling.
"That's what I thought," said Mr. Ainsworth. He grabbed Vanellope by the collar and lifted her into the air.
"Sugar Rush is mine," he said, "and I suggest you get used to my way of doing things- at least until the game is unplugged before long. Ah, but I forget my place. Portia will tell you all."
Vanellope had been listening quietly to Mr. Ainsworth's speech. She couldn't muster the energy to speak, but she did what she could- she spit in his eye.
Mr. Ainsworth laughed. "I was right," he said. "You're the one I'll enjoy messing with the most." He turned towards the door.
"You can't take her," Rancis protested.
"Watch me, son," said Mr. Ainsworth, walking towards the door. Before leaving, he gestured briefly towards the guards.
"Take them to field before the gates. Let them mingle with their friends while they wait for the announcement."
"What…about me?" said Vanellope.
"You're getting a reserved seat by the podium," Mr. Ainsworth replied. "I saved it just for you."