SargeTJCalhoun64: Haha thanks. I thought it was hilarious too!
annabre24: Here's an extra-long chapter. Enjoy! Oh and thanks again for your OC.
RobinsInTheSkye: Thanks for your OC. Wow, if I stick to my original planned plot, you read my mind! I think Rae will be quite integral later on. Thanks!
Snikkey sugara: Uh okay but wait 'till you see this! Thanks for the cake! Have some candy and another chapter! *hands over candy*
I have a confession to make. I made several errors in my previous chapters: Gumball Gully is actually Gumball Gorge, Snowcone Mountains zone is actually Frosty Ride, and Crumbelina's Tira-Missile cart has the joint-highest grip/control. I only realized this after playing the game Sugar Rush Speedway. So, a big apology to all of you!
Chapter 11: Vanellope's Fury!
All the racers were gathered at the Racers' Lounge, reminiscing over their good and bad times in the current machine. Snowanna commented, "It's hard to believe that we're going to be updated! It's been fifteen years."
Minty said, "Fifteen years of racing, wow! It doesn't seem like so long ago when we were first plugged in. Time really flies."
Rancis smiled. "I remember the very first RRR. Taffyta was so mad at me because I smashed into her and ruined her chance of winning. She and Vanellope had been fighting for the lead all the way. When I got out of my cart at the end of the race, she walked over and slapped me!" Everyone laughed. Taffyta attempted to defend herself. "I did that because he made me spin off on the final lap. I would have won, if not for him!" She punched Rancis playfully.
Just then, Vanellope dashed in. "Guys, look at this!" She plugged in her camera to a laptop and displayed photos of Ralph, sleeping peacefully after Vanellope's makeover. Everyone's mouths hung open, speechless. Jerry was the first to regain his voice. "What in the name of candy is that?" Swizzle replied, wide-eyed, "That's Ralph. Wearing makeup. And a wig."
Minty said impishly, "That's not half-bad. Great makeover, Vanellope!"
Vanellope replied with a curtsy, "Thank you, madam, for your kind words."
Gloyd chuckled and commented, "You've outdone even me on this one. Nice one, Vanellope!"
Everyone started laughing as Vanellope scrolled through the photos she had taken of Ralph. They were all still giggling about it as they walked out to their carts.
The crowd was in full attendance for the last RRR before the update. Their screams and cheers filled the air as the racers got into their carts and settled into positions.
The announcer ran through the names of the racers and then mentioned the update. Suddenly, a voice boomed, "VAANNEELLLOOPPEEEE!" The crowd fell silent. Vanellope panicked. "That's our cue! START THE RACE QUICKLY!"
Sour Bill asked, "But what about-" Vanellope cut him off, signaling the countdown. He sighed and shrugged, beginning the countdown.
3, 2, 1, GO!
Ralph dashed onto the track a second after the racers roared off. He slammed his mighty fists into the ground in frustration and headed off to talk to Sour Bill.
Vanellope had sped into the lead, partially boosted by fear, with Jerry, Taffyta and Rancis hotly in pursuit. Gloyd, who had been crowded out at the start, was steadily making his way up the leaderboard. At the end of the first lap, the standings were: Jerry, Rancis, Vanellope, Taffyta, Candlehead, Gloyd, Adorabeezle, Minty, and Swizzle.
Jerry had overtaken Vanellope at the Gumball Gorge when she had been taken out by a Sweet Seeker, courtesy of Rancis. Vanellope proceeded to fight back from sixth to lurk behind the two leading boys. Gloyd was battling with Candlehead, who was defending brilliantly against Gloyd's superior speed.
As the racers entered the Gumball Gorge for the second time, disaster struck. Taffyta swerved to block Gloyd, desperately yanked the steering wheel to avoid a gumball heading right for her and collided with Vanellope, causing both of them to spin out of control. At the same time, Rancis apparently lost control of his cart and suddenly started spinning, causing a major pile-up, exacerbated by the giant gumballs rolling around. The crash involved Rancis, Taffyta, Vanellope, Gloyd, Candlehead, and Adorabeezle. Minty and Swizzle skidded to a halt just in time, but Snowanna and Sticky weren't so lucky. In total, eight of the racers had been wrecked, leaving the race in chaos.
The emergency team moved in on helicopters, icing the gumballs in place and locking the gumball machines. They made sure that all the racers and their carts were airlifted out, back to the starting line.
Vanellope was furious! She had been hoping to win this race and overtake Taffyta's win record. Turbo/King Candy had held the previous record but the racers had voted to remove his results because of his deceit. Taffyta held the record for a week with 127 wins, including avatar wins. After Vanellope joined the roster, she had quickly become the favoured avatar, due to her natural speed and glitching abilities. This final race would have broken her tie with Taffyta and taken her to 128! Vanellope was certain that Taffyta had wrecked her on purpose and Rancis was also helping her. She was ready to blow, but waited 'till all the racers had landed.
Taffyta was kneeling by Rancis' head. He was unconscious, apparently knocked out by the crash. She gently caressed his head, the ugly scar still obvious on his pale skin. A tear rolled down her cheek.
The chopper landed and Taffyta got out, giving Rancis' hand one last squeeze. She walked back to the Racers' Lounge, still lost in her thoughts. Suddenly, she was thrown to the ground roughly. Vanellope stood over her, eyes blazing!
Vanellope snarled, "You rotten candy apple! You think I didn't figure out your plan? You deliberately wrecked me with Rancis' help!" She jumped onto Taffyta and started slapping and clawing her. Taffyta attempted to defend herself, screaming and crying in pain, but it was a futile effort. The racers poured out of the Lounge and quickly separated the two girls. Jerry and Swizzle were holding Vanellope down the best they could, but she was like a wildcat, screaming threats and insults at Taffyta. Candlehead and Snowanna helped Taffyta up. Angry red marks all over her face were testament to Vanellope's fury.
Thoroughly angered, Taffyta screamed back, "I didn't wreck you on purpose! I swerved to block Gloyd and I didn't see the gumball coming! How dare you accuse me of rigging this crash! Rancis' spin had nothing to do with me! He's hurt and you accuse him of something like that?" She leaped at Vanellope, but was stopped by Candle, Snow, and Jubi. "Please Taff, don't do this!" Candlehead pleaded.
Taffyta and Vanellope both strained against the hands holding them. They both felt wronged by the other, and their desire for revenge increased their strength. Suddenly, they both broke free at the same time. The two girls slashed and smacked at each other like two hungry dogs fighting for the last piece of meat. Just then, Ralph waded into the fight. He tore the two girls away from each other's grasp and held them apart with his gigantic hands.
Taffyta collapsed, sobbing. Candlehead and Jubileena knelt by her, endeavoring to soothe her. Vanellope, however, still tried to glitch away from Ralph's reach. He finally caught her again, held her upside down in the air, and shook her hard. "Get a hold of yourself, kid!" he yelled, scaring everyone with his booming voice. "What is wrong with you?"
Vanellope answered, with her voice building into a scream, "Nothing's wrong with me but everything's wrong with her! She wrecked me on purpose to stop me from beating her race win record!"
Ralph looked over at Taffyta, who shook her head tearfully. Vanellope sighed and stormed away in the direction of her castle. Ralph glanced at her before walking over to Taffyta. "Kid, you okay?" Taffyta nodded, wiping her eyes and face on her sleeve. Blood, tears, and makeup were smeared all over her face, partially hiding the cuts and bruises she had sustained. Candlehead gently led her away to the hospital. Ralph looked at Jerry and both of them shook their heads.
Taffyta was lying in bed beside Rancis. She had been cleaned up and checked into the hospital. Preliminary check-ups had shown no serious injuries, but the doctor wanted to monitor her for a day.
She felt lonely. What she really wanted was to talk to someone, but no one seemed available. Rancis was the person she longed to talk to the most, but her boyfriend was still unconscious. Candlehead wouldn't really understand her, and Taffyta wasn't close enough to any other racer to be comfortable talking to them about her feelings. Then, a name entered her mind. She picked up the phone and dialed.
Vanellope wasn't admitting defeat. "She'll pay for that! That lollipop-sucking loser! Now, what can I-". She stopped abruptly as the idea hit her. With a grim smile, she dashed quickly to Sour Bill's room. She was going to hurt Taffyta big-time!
"Thanks for coming, Jerry. I'm really sorry to disturb you." Taffyta apologized.
"Don't worry. I can hang out with Swizzle any time. I understand that you need someone just to talk to." Jerry replied. He smiled kindly, his blue eyes encouraging Taffyta to pour out her feelings. She started talking about her history with Vanellope. They had been designed as rivals both on and off the track, but they had done it jokingly to maintain appearances. Then King Candy/Turbo took over, erasing everyone's memories. Taffyta had begun bullying Vanellope, along with everyone else. Taffyta concluded, "Then Vanellope was restored as President, and everything seemed to be back to normal. Except, Vanellope refused to forgive me. I really, really apologized to her, but she wouldn't forgive me. She even slighted me publicly."
Jerry nodded as he remembered Vanellope's actions that seemed petty, but actually had years of hurt behind them.
Taffyta continued, "I can live with that, but then she blew up today. I mean, I know she hates me, but to accuse me of deliberately wrecking her? I don't care about the record at all! She even accused Rancis of working together with me!"
Jerry nodded again. "I'll talk to Vanellope about this. She was way out of line today. She has to learn to forgive." He smiled.
Taffyta smiled back gratefully. Suddenly a blinding wave of pain hit her and she crashed to the floor, holding her head. Jerry quickly knelt by her side and asked, "Are you okay?" Taffyta tried to reply but another wave of pain hit her. It was so painful that she screamed and fainted.
"Come on, come on! Where is it?" Vanellope mumbled as she rifled through Sour Bill's desk. She turned to the bed, rummaging under the pillows. She gave a small gasp as her fingers closed on something soft. She drew out her hand to see the napkin from Tapper's. She quickly unfolded it to reveal the combination to the code vault! She clenched her fist in jubilation before straightening up the room and slipping away.
She headed straight for the code vault and carefully tapped in the combination. Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, Start! The door spun sideways before creaking open. Vanellope knotted the licorice rope around her waist and tied the other end to the railing just beside the door. She floated in, looking around for the racers' codes. She smiled as her eyes fell upon the newest code, Jerry Berry's code. She turned away, still searching.
There it was! 'TAFFYTA MUTTONFUDGE', the box read. She firmly grasped the wires connecting the code to the game. She closed her eyes, exhaled, and yanked. A smile crossed her face.