Hey everyone! I'm so, so, sorry for making you guys wait so long! I had a bit of writer's block. But, I'm really excited, 'cause the first OC has finally appeared! Several more will come next chapter, 'cause I couldn't squeeze them into this chapter. So, enjoy!

annabre24: You're right! Taffyta is rather naive, but it just makes it easier for Vanellope to bully her! MWAHAHAHA! *covers mouth* Did I just do that?

crankyman7: Aaah yes, Dr. Hershey. Moment of inspiration for me. New candy-related puns? Not quite sure; humour isn't my forte. I'm open to suggestions! Hope you keep enjoying!

Kam XD: It's not too late yet!

RobinsInTheSkye: The transfer! Yay! I'm really excited too! Don't worry, I won't stop!

Angel's Best Friend: Why, thank you!

SargeTJCalhoun64: Sure do! It's starting to get into my head too! DUN DUN DUN!

.persson.98: I'm so sorry! Here you go!

BlackRose56: Thanks for your OC! Yeah, it was rather bad of Vanell- *Vanellope shoves JarrettSoon away*

Vanellope: It's not my fault! He made me! *points at JarrettSoon* I will have my revenge!

Me: See, you are bad!

Vanellope: Aaarrggghhh! *charges at JarrettSoon*

JarrettSoon: Aah! Enjoy people, got to run!

Chapter 13: New Faces, New Places

Vanellope looked around as the lights came back on. She saw everyone standing there in confusion. It seemed like they were in the same hall! Puzzled, she worked her way through the crowd to the door and opened it.

She was greeted by an amazing sight. The hall was on top of a small hill from which she could see the upgraded kingdom of Sugar Rush. The graphics had been upgraded to high-definition, making everything, including the characters, look much more realistic.

The white chocolate castle stood magnificently on the tallest hill, gleaming in the sunlight. It appeared much bigger than in the old game. Sugar Rush Speedway was now much longer, with several new tracks visible in the distance, including a mountainous track, a beach track, and a track suspended on cotton candy clouds!

Everyone had swarmed out of the hall cheering at their new, or rather, improved home. Jerry and the other racers approached Vanellope. "Not bad, huh, Vanellope?" Jerry commented.

Vanellope replied, "Not bad at all, Jerry. Not bad at all." She surveyed her kingdom with a satisfied smile. "What say we go take a spin 'round the new tracks, guys?"

The racers cheered and started down the hill to the track. They were chattering excitedly when suddenly Swizzle, who was in the lead, stopped dead in his tracks, causing everyone to bump into each other due to the narrow trail. Jerry, who was right behind him, stepped off the trail just in time but missed his footing and tumbled all the way down. Candlehead squealed, "Ooohh, that looks like fun!" and jumped off the trail, rolling down all the way. Jerry was just picking himself up when Candlehead came tumbling down right into him, tripping him up! Candlehead squealed, "Whee! Wasn't that fun, Jerry!" The entire group of racers burst into laughter! Jerry facepalmed, sighed and rolled his eyes.

Before he could pick himself up, a little girl's voice asked, "Is that Jack and Jill?"

A deeper male voice replied laughingly, "No Jelly, I don't think so!"

"But the rhyme, Amos!" She proceeded to recite the beloved children's rhyme:

Jack and Jill

went up the hill

to fetch a pail of water,

Jack fell down,

and broke his crown,

and Jill came tumbling after!

She concluded by saying, "So they must be Jack and Jill!"

The guy apparently called Amos laughed. "No Jelly. If they were, wouldn't they be carrying a pail of water?"

Jerry turned around to see a young man with long brown hair and a little pink-haired girl looking at him. The girl's face was screwed up in thought and her brows were furrowed. She said thoughtfully, "I guess you're right. Then who are they?"

Jerry stood up and brushed himself off. He shook the outstretched hand of the young man and the little girl shyly put out her hand also. Jerry smiled kindly and shook her hand, introducing himself. "My name is Jerry Berry, and this is Candlehead."

"Amos Cookiechip," said the young man. He looked at the girl, who shyly whispered, "Hi, my name's Kristin Jellybean. Everyone calls me Jelly."

By that time, all the racers had reached the bottom of the hill, gathering behind Jerry and Candlehead. Amos asked, "So what are you guys doing here?"

Vanellope said, "Um, I think we should be the ones asking that question. What are you doing here?"

Jelly replied, "We're the new racers! This is the upgraded kingdom of Sugar Rush. We're waiting for the data transfer."

Jerry chuckled. "That's us then!"

Vanellope introduced herself, then everyone else. Amos and Jelly politely greeted everyone. Vanellope concluded by saying, "We were just on our way to take a spin 'round the new tracks; get some experience before the arcade opens."

Jelly squealed, "We'll take you around! We know these tracks real well!

Jerry said, "Okay, let's go!" They headed to the upgraded and redesigned Racers' Lounge, where their carts were waiting for them. As Vanellope walked to the Kandy Kart, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. A motorcycle and tricycle stood at the side of the first row of carts, beside Taffyta's Pink Lightning. Vanellope asked, "What's that?"

Amos grinned broadly. "Part of the upgrades. See, we don't race in carts." He walked over and fondly caressed the motorcycle. "This is the Cookiecycle!" The body was a slightly burnt cookie, with round chocolate chip cookies for the wheels.

Jubileena asked, "Then what's this one?" pointing to the tricycle. Jelly skipped over. "That's my tricycle! It's called the Jellymint Trike!" The frame was made from peppermint sticks melted together, and the wheels were circular peppermints coated with a layer of jellybeans. A jellybean seat completed the tricycle.

Sticky called out, "Hey! There are a couple of big carts back here! Are there more upgraded characters?"

Amos replied," There sure are! That's the O'Sweetie twins' double cart, and the Gingerbread Van."

Candlehead asked, "Gingerbread… Man? Funny name for a cart."

Rancis sighed, "Gingerbread Van! Not Gingerbread Man!" Jelly started giggling uncontrollably. Rancis asked, "What?"

Jelly cleared her throat and said really quickly, "The Gingerbread Van is the Gingerbread Man's. The Gingerbread Man's van is the Gingerbread Van."

Candlehead said, "Ooohh! I love tongue-twisters!" She tried to imitate Jelly, but got hopelessly mixed up. "The Gingerbread Van's man is the Ginger Man's bread van, er, Gingerbread, um, man's ginger…..Howdjudodat?"

Jelly laughed even harder until tears rolled down her cheeks! She clutched her tummy and rolled around, laughing hysterically. She finally regained control, wiping her eyes. She said, "Well, let's go!" She hopped onto Amos' Cookiecycle.

Everyone started their engines and started off at a leisurely speed. Amos rode at the front, giving some comments on the course from time to time. Jelly was chattering on and on with Jerry and Candlehead, telling them about the racers and the courses and anything else she could think of.

They drove through the Rock Candy Peaks, a course that winded up one mountain and led to a jump over to the neighboring peak before descending to the finish.

Then they headed down to Brownie Beach. The track was paved with brownies, the sand was brown sugar, and the course was completed by a sea of chocolate milk. It was a circular track with tight turns, and one section was only brown sugar, making close control necessary. Amos screeched to a halt and said, "If a racer loses control, it usually results in a very cold swim indeed. The straight leading to the 90 degree turn on the sandy part tempts racers to accelerate, flinging them into the sea."

Jelly said, "Why'd you tell them, Amos? It would've been fun to see them spin off into the sea!"

Jerry commented, "You're a cheeky girl, wanting to see others crash!" He tickled her neck playfully. She squealed in laughter and attempted to defend herself.

Rancis asked, "Aren't there other tracks? Shouldn't we head out to those as well?"

Amos said, "The other tracks, the Cotton Candy Clouds and the Peanut Butter Mines, are locked until a player reaches Level 5 on their console. And we also have Lollipop Lane. Lollipop Lane is the upgraded version of Sweet Ride, so you guys probably won't need any introduction to that."

Just then, the five minute alert sounded. Vanellope said, "Okay people, let's head back to the Lounge now!" The racers zoomed back to the Lounge.

Amos and Jelly beat them all there with his superior speed and lesser weight. He commented, "You guys aren't that fast, are you?"

Vanellope climbed out and shook her head, smiling. "Just wait 'till we REALLY get going, Cookiechip! We'll leave you in the dust!"

Jelly spoke up. "Well, how about a race? After arcade hours, newbies versus oldies!" She and Amos winked at each other.

The 'oldies' looked at each other with a smile. Vanellope said, "You're on!"

A couple of girls walked out from the Lounge, dressed in similar dark yellow jackets, orange skirts, and bright yellow leggings. The only difference between them was that one of them wore a slightly darker jacket. "What's on?" they asked together.

Jelly hopped off the Cookiecycle and ran over to them. She exclaimed, "We've got us a race tonight! We upgrades are gonna race against the old characters!"

They both said, "Sweet!"

Minty asked, "Are you two twins?"

They both replied, "Yeah!"

The lighter colored girl said, "I'm Honey…"

The darker colored girl continued, "And I'm Maple…."

They finished, "And we're the O'Sweetie twins!"

Jubileena remarked, "Whew, double trouble!"

Amos asked the twins, "Is Gingy ready yet? The arcade's about to open!

Honey replied, "He should be out any minute now."

As the quarter alert sounded, the racers scrambled for their vehicles. Torvald jumped into her cart, parked next to the Ginger bread Van. As she started her engine, she noticed a gingerbread cookie jumping into the van. She thought to herself, "He must be the Gingerbread Man." She called out, "Hi!"

The Gingerbread Man replied, "Oh, hi! Wait, the upgrade happened already? Crumbs! I missed it! I-, I'm sorry, I'm forgetting my manners. I'm the Gingerbread Man, but call me Gingy."

Torvald giggled. "I'm Torvald. Nice to meet you!"

Gingy replied, "Nice to meet you too!"

Up front, Jerry was talking with Amos. "Hey, exactly what are you keeping from us? You and Jelly were winking at each other just now."

Amos replied with a huge grin, "Can't spoil the surprise, you know. I'll just say we've got an ace up our sleeves."

Everyone turned toward the screen as the player began setting up for his game. Despite the new machine having four screens, two side by side and back to back with the other two, there was only one player playing. He plugged in his USB and waited as it loaded. Another boy ran up behind him. "Hey Grant! Wow, you got the console game already? Cool! How does it work?"

Grant replied, "Hey Alex! The console game's pretty good. I'm just trying my racer out here for the first time. Wanna watch?"

Alex replied, "Your own racer? Cool! Sure thing!" He sat down beside Grant.

As the screen showed the load bar, something was happening in the game. Vanellope and her racers watched fascinated as a blurry and sparkling figure appeared in front of them. The figure solidified and the sparkles went away. The new racer was a boy dressed in blue and white. He was wearing a light blue sleeveless jacket with a white shirt underneath, long light blue pants, and blue sneakers. His outfit was completed by a light blue dome hat with wisps of brown hair peeking out from underneath. His cart's body was spherical, with the bottom a half gumball and the top a hemisphere of glass tinted blue.

He flashed a smile to everyone and introduced himself. "Hi there! I'm Barry Bubblestein! Nice to meet you all!" He hopped into his cart and triggered the top to close.

Grant chose the Regular Race mode, which was a one-lap race against the whole field around four different zones. He gripped the steering wheel as the countdown began. Barry mimicked his controller's actions.

3, 2, 1, GO!

The racers sped off! As they entered the first zone, the familiar Gumball Gorge, Jerry was leading Vanellope and Rancis. Amos, Swizzle and Barry were dueling behind them.

The racers hit the Sugar Cubes. Jerry picked up Syrup Slick and immediately laid it down. Rancis, who was right behind Jerry, couldn't avoid it and lost control of his cart, nearly crashing into a gumball before regaining control. Vanellope also picked up a Sugar Cube. The announcer cried, "CHARACTER ITEM! Sugar Storm!" A transparent cannon with a small tornado swirling inside it opened up out of the back of the Kandy Kart. Curious, Vanellope fired at Swizzle. The cannon fired out a growing tornado made of grains of sugar, which surrounded Swizzle and blew him up high. The Tongue Twister landed back on the track with a big jolt, leaving Swizzle stunned for a moment. His head cleared just in time for him to see a gumball heading straight for him. "AAAHH!" Crash!

Vanellope called out to Amos, "That was cool! What was that?"

Amos yelled back, "Character Item! Something unique to each racer!"

As they entered Lollipop Lane, the second of the four zones, Amos accelerated, taking advantage of his superior speed. The leading racers were now Amos, Jerry, Vanellope, Barry, and Candlehead. They got through Lollipop Lane without much ado.

Vanellope was wondering about the new racer, Barry. He didn't seem to be very dangerous but still managed to keep up with the leaders.

The racers entered zone three, the Cakeway. Vanellope immediately took advantage and passed Jerry and then Amos, who had to slow down to maintain control. Barry was still lurking in fourth place.

They exited the ramp onto the final zone, Brownie Beach. Amos was relying on his experience to overtake Vanellope and Jerry. He slickly took his Cookiecycle round the hairpin turns and hit the sandy straight, closing in on Vanellope. Jerry was accelerating hard, trying to keep up with Amos. Vanellope was the first to take the 90 degree turn, but she hadn't braked enough and spun. Amos skidded to a near halt to avoid crashing into her. Seeing that, Jerry slowed to a safe speed before taking the turn. Amos and Vanellope finally got back on the track, now behind Jerry.

Suddenly, Vanellope noticed Barry approaching the turn at full speed. Amazingly, he didn't spin off! His cart's wheels were spherical, allowing him to drift 'round the turn without losing too much speed. He slid neatly into second position, ahead of Vanellope and Amos.

The leading four racers headed for the finish line just metres away, bunched together. They were all battling hard for the win. Jerry just managed to hold off Barry for the win, with Vanellope coming in third.

Jerry and Vanellope approached Barry. Vanellope commented, "Wow! How did you manage that drift? You're real good!"

Amos added, "I'll say! I've been practicing that turn for a while but still can't get it perfect! That was real skill!"

Alex, Grant's friend, was also complimenting Grant on that final turn.

Grant & Barry smiled modestly. They said at the same time, "It's my cart design. Its speed may be lower but its handling is awesome. Well, I'm just happy my strategy worked."

Just then, the screen flashed. Congratulations! You have finished in the top 3, so your racer will be saved into the machine. Good job!

Grant pumped his fist in celebration. He inserted another four quarters to begin the next race.

Note: Barry was mimicking his player, Grant.

I own Jerry Berry, Kristin Jellybean, the O'Sweetie twins, and Amos Cookiechip. Amos Cookiechip's name was partially created by one of my friends, Yashana Lingam. Thanks again, Yash! I was having real trouble with his name.

The Gingerbread Man (Gingy) is a crossover character from Shrek.

And the owner of Barry Bubblestein is Ojaminator! The first sent in OC!

I apologize to everyone else and I promise you will see your OC in before the plot continues.

Until next chapter...goodbye.