Chapter 17: Exploring The Abandoned Laboratory
Meanwhile, in Sugar Rush, Cinndon peaked out from behind a couple of bushes. He had arrived at the castle and looked around to make sure that no one was around. There was no one in the front of the castle, so Cinndon ran up. He opened the door and ran inside. He made his way to the code room and unlocked the door. When the door was open, Cinndon tied a licorice rope around his waist before tying the end of the licorice rope to the door. Cinndon then took a deep breath and swam out into the codes. He headed for his code box and touched it, opening it in the process. He thought about what powers he wanted, and after a few minutes, he figured it out. He modified his code box so he would have Cinnamon abilities. His powers gave himself the ability of producing a cloud of cinnamon dust that could do a variety of different effects, from blinding to suffocating, and he could also fire out spikes of solid cinnamon from his hands that could impale foes and could melt away at will. He could also fire globs of cinnamon goo that could also stick enemies to surfaces, like Sticky's marshmallow bombs, but it also had a different range of effects, such as melting away surfaces or being able to harden into stuff like walls.
Once Cinndon was done modifying his code box, he swam out of the code room and left the castle. He walked over to the CinnaKart, started it up, and then started driving away, so he could find the Sugar Rush racers and help them.
Back in Dead Space: Rise Of Evil, Vanllope lead the Sugar Rush racers down the hallway in the abandoned laboratory. To be frank, Vanellope did not know where she was going (that's just to add up to how scared she already was).
The Sugar Rush racers thought that the hallway ended after a few turns, but they were dreadfully wrong. Things began to go downhill... literally. The floor began to incline, and the Sugar Rush racers realized that they were heading underground and under a body of contaminated water because rocks, vines, and other earth related things began to appear under the metal and steel textiles. The corridors began to get smaller as everyone struggled to squeeze through, since the steel and obscure plates of the wall were peeling and jutting into the walkway. Pipes were broken and spewing out gasses, which thankfully, were not poisonous. Everything began to take a turn for the worse once the Sugar Rush racers began to encounter deadly snakes and other sharp hazards. But eventually, the Sugar Rush racers came to a steel door, and they all panted with relief.
Citrusella stepped forward, generated two balls of electricity, and fired them at the door... only to find out that they zapped off once they came in contact with the door. Citrusella jumped back in shock.
"Whoa!" Citrusella cried in shock.
Citrusella tried again, but the same thing happened again. The balls of electric simply zapped away.
"My turn!" Candlehead said with determination. She then ordered "Stand back!".
The other Sugar Rush racers scurried behind something and took cover. With a roar of fury, Candlehead blew out a massive wave of fire at the doorway for a long period of time. When she stopped, the door didn't change. It was a little burnt, but otherwise unscathed. Candlehead grunted with frustration.
"It didn't work!" Candlehead hollered with disappointment.
The other Sugar Rush racers reemerged from their cover and approached the door. Adorabeezle shoved Candlehead aside and gave the door a go. She clawed at it's creases and openings, but all that came out of it were sparks and a couple of light scratches. She gave up when she ran out of breath and headed back to the other Sugar Rush racers, shoulders slumped.
The other Sugar Rush racers that hadn't went yet tried to open the door. Rancis spat out a spray of toxic sugar waste, but the door remained standing in perfect condition. Jubileena tried blowing through the door with a couple of cherry bombs, but the cherry bombs didn't even make a dent. Torvald tried having a couple of butter clones open the door, but their efforts were futile. It was the same with the rest of the Sugar Rush racers, whenever they tried using their powers to open the door.
"The door is unbreakable." Minty said sadly.
Suddenly, the door swung open. Everyone gasped and stared at the Apple Toffee themed racer in shock. It seemed like Minty's voice had activated the door! The Sugar Rush racers then realized that a small microphone was inserted into the door. They peered inside the door and saw that it was pitch black beyond the door. They couldn't see a thing or hear anything because it was completely empty. But they had to keep going because they made it this far. The whole arcade was depending on them!
Vanellope cautiously walked towards the door entrance and waved her hand into the darkness. Nothing. Vanellope stepped in and was consumed by the darkness, unseen by her friends. But soon, a cry of shock from Vanellope rang and echoed through the room, reaching her friends ears.
"Vanellope!" the Sugar Rush racers all cried out.
The Sugar Rush racers bounded towards the door. Taffyta ended up being shoved through first. She was Vanellope's best friend, and the two shared a strong bond. She was always there for Vanellope (except during the time that Turbo ruled Sugar Rush). Taffyta ran into the darkness once she made it through the door, but suddenly, like Vanellope, a yelp came from the Strawberry themed racer, and the other Sugar Rush racers heard nothing else. Without even thinking or needing to know, the remaining Sugar Rush racers charged through the door and into the darkness.
At first, they felt nothing, but then they heard a pebble seemingly falling down somewhere. That's when the remaining Sugar Rush racers felt like they were sliding downwards. A chorus of "oh no's" chimed through the room as they fell to the ground and began to slide around in circles and downwards.
They were going down a funnel!
The Sugar Rush racers tried to get back up and make a dash for it, but the floor was smooth and there was nothing they could do, except for Sticky. Torvald's butter powers made the situation worse for her, Rancis's tentacles did absolutely squat for him, and Adorabeezle's claws only raked into the ground, and it was the same for the other Sugar Rush racers. But Sticky managed to stick her hand to the ground using a marshmallow orb, so she simply hung onto the inclined floor, worried to death.
Taffyta came through the funnel first, and she was thrown on the ground with a grunt. She looked up, eyes wide, and she got up and ran out of the way in the nick of time before Adorabeezle came falling down as well. But Adorabeezle didn't move fast enough as Candlehead fell on top of her.
"Candlehead, get off of me!" Adorabeezle growled threateningly.
Candlehead could only snort and chortle, but she got off of her friend anyways. The rest of the Sugar Rush racers, except Sticky, then landed on the ground. They looked up and realized that they had just came out of a sand hole. The room they were in, in fact, had stone mixed with metal walls and floors, but wet sand and ivy mixed the ceiling. They must have been under the bodies of contaminated water!
But where was Sticky?
"Sticky, it's alright that you come on down!" Torvald called out.
Soon, a marshmallow orb came popping down and exploded over the floor. Sticky came soon after, and she fell on the marshmallow orb with satisfaction.
"Ha! Soft as a pillow! I'm okay!" Sticky said with glee and relief.
Good, they were all there. But where were Vanellope and Taffyta?
The Sugar Rush racers caught site of the duo at one end of the room. The only side with a way out, which was another door. The door covered the entire side of the wall. They were sliding doors, made entirely of stone and steel, and in the middle was the imprint of a hand. It seemed like the person with literally the perfect touch could open it. So, everyone walked up to the door one by one, trying to open the door by placing their hand on the imprint. But none of their hands worked.
Except for Vanellope's.
Once Vanellope placed her hand on the imprint, the imprint groaned, folded back, and retreated back into the door. Vanellope recoiled her hand and backed off. The ground and ceiling rumbled, and the double doors slowly opened. The Sugar Rush racers braced themselves to face Licortwist, Creamy, the Frostbites, and Steven, and walked past the double doors.