The next day, after the arcade closed, Bitalo sought out Torvald and did what his father suggested.
"Hi Torvald, I was wondering if you could help me." He said.
"No problem, what do you need help with?" Torvald smiled.
"Well, I really want to try racing but...but I'm too scared." Bitalo admitted.
"Hey know sweat, I know just how to help you:" Torvald grinned. "Get you used to different parts of racing one at a time."
"Really? How are you going to do that?" Bitalo asked.
"The Sugar Rush Amusement Park." She grinned. "It's a free theme park for citizens so they can unwind whenever they need too. I'm sure the rides there can help you."
"Uh, but I don't have any money." Bitalo said awkwardly.
"Relax, guests of citizens get in free too." Torvald grinned.
"Well...okay. Sounds like fun." Bitalo smiled.
"Great, come on!" She grabbed him and led him to the amusement park.
Meanwhile things were going on as usual in other areas:
Citrusella was still trying to befriend Sourward with no luck. She tried asking him to go somewhere with her, but he still kept refusing so she just ended up going with him everywhere despite his not wanting her too.
Candlehead was still trying to befriend Matlow with no luck (this time she was using sports to get him to have fun).
Sticky and Minty watched Swizzle and Adamec have fun on the slopes, and Sticky was starting to find Adamec cooler than Swizzle (ironically, given Adamec's theme).
Snowanna and Pepsino were dancing together in Snowanna's dance room. It had been the spare room in her house, which she had turned into a dance studio.
Graham was trying to show Crumbelina his noble heart, but she was still stubborn about going out with him...or not going out with him rather.
Bodhivian and Stormberry were still practicing a couple of the sports the Swizzle and Adamec taught them. Basically they were practicing baseball and basketball, after learning the basics they had asked Swizzle and Adamec if they could practice them on their own. Swizzle and Adamec, wanting to enjoy the slopes, agreed and promised to teach Bodhivian and Stormberry a couple other sports when they were ready. Next up was soccer and tennis (Bodhivian and Stormberry weren't interested in football because of the tackling, they didn't want to get hurt that way).
Nougetsia, Adorabeezle, and Charleston were hanging out watching more vintage movies. Not a lot though, their parents wanted them to do other things as well. So after a couple of movies they talked for some time and played Monopoly. During the game Charleston surprised Adorabeezle and Nougetsia with his special talent: the ability to imitate famous stars of the past.
"I'm gonna get that property see? Yeah, and you can't stop me either." Charleston said as Edward G Robinson as he moved his racecar token around the board.
Adorabeezle and Nougetsia laughed with delight.
"That is awesome, I didn't know you could do that." Adorabeezle smiled.
"Well that's because I don't like to show it off." Charleston grinned in his own voice. "I just like doing it for fun."
"Do some more!" Nougetsia smiled.
Charleston did. He did Tizzie Lish for the iron, Groucho Marx for the dog, Lucille Ball for the thimble, Frank Sinatra for the top hat, Fred Allen for the sack of money, Old Timer for the wheelbarrow, and Jack Benny (as Buck Benny) for the man-on-horseback. Adorabeezle and Nougetsia loved it despite not recognizing some of the voices.
Later on when they went to get a snack Nougetsia introduced Charleston to a few British foods. He didn't like all of them, but found a few things tasty.
Back to Torvald and Bitalo: they were having fun at first in the amusement park. Torvald had started off slow with the minor rides...but then started to switch to the more intense ones.
"Uh...are you sure it's safe?" Bitalo said nervously after she led him to the calmest roller coaster in the park; it still looked a bit too intense for him.
"Of course, I've ridden this one loads of times." Torvald shrugged. "I only stopped riding it so often when I got big enough to ride the other roller coasters, they were more fun. I still ride this one sometimes for nostalgic reasons though."
"Er...I don't know I...you know what I'm getting hungry and it's not a good idea to ride fast rides soon after eating so..." Bitalo tried to escape.
"Oh come back here." Torvald grabbed him in time and dragged him over to the line for the ride. "You can eat after this ride okay?"
"Okay..." Bitalo said weakly.
They went on the ride, and Bitalo was terrified during the whole thing. When the ride stopped Torvald had to help him out. She then lay him against a nearby bench so that he was half-sitting/half-lying down.
"That was horrifying!" He nearly squeaked. "If that was the calmest coaster then there is no way I'm riding the other ones."
"If you don't then I can't help you become brave enough to race." Torvald smirked.
Bitalo groaned.
"Wait here." Torvald left.
She then came back with a chocolate smoothie.
"I think something cold and chocolate might help you." She said.
Bitalo slowly drank the smoothie. By the end of his drink he felt a lot better.
"*Whew*, thanks Torvald I needed that." He said with relief, getting his voice back.
"No problem. We can take a breather for a while." Torvald smiled as she sat down next to him.
Bitalo decided to take a slight nap to help calm himself down. A bit later on he had to go to the bathroom, and once he came out Torvald decided it was time to go on the other roller coasters. However she took him to the next one without telling him first, so he didn't catch on until they were already in line.
"What? Oh no not another one!" Bitalo groaned. "I thought you were going to take me to a calmer ride!"
"Sorry Bitalo, but if you can get used to these roller coasters than racing will be nothing." Torvald smiled mischievously.
Bitalo now got her plan and was really scared. Torvald caught on and so kept him in line by holding onto his hand tightly. Bitalo wanted to escape but he liked having Torvald's hand in his and so found it hard to free his hand.
They went on that coaster and Bitalo was even more terrified than before. Torvald let him calm down again and then took him on another one. She also had to help him off that ride, but before she could lay him on a nearby bench again he collapsed.
"If you keep this up you're gonna scare me to death." He gasped. "I mean what are you, a golden grim reaper?"
"Very funny." Torvald said sarcastically. "For your information no one has ever died of fright in this park. Or any other way for that matter."
"Well then I guess I'm gonna be the first." Bitalo clutched his heart, which was still pounding.
"Don't exaggerate, you're not the first to be this scared after one of these coasters." Torvald helped him up. "Actually I'm among the few who hasn't gotten scared on these rides."
"Doesn't anything scare you?" Bitalo asked more out of curiosity than annoyance.
"Just death or needing to leave the game permanently, but who isn't scared of that?" Torvald shrugged. "We already learned that staying in your game while it's being unplugged doesn't kill you so no one is scared of that anymore."
"Well it's not like anything could actually cause us to permanently leave right?" Bitalo was starting to calm down a little.
"There is one thing..." Torvald actually shivered.
Bitalo was shocked. He had never seen her scared before.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Cy-Bugs." Torvald shivered harder.
Bitalo put an arm around her and helped her sit on the bench with him.
"What are Cy-Bugs?" He asked.
Torvald explained and also explained Turbo having taken over Sugar Rush until Ralph came along. Bitalo dropped his mouth open. She included the information that Turbo had locked up Candiel and traded places with him.
"Unbelievable...I mean I believe you it's just..." He said.
"I know, when we found out about Turbo and remembered the truth about Vanellope we were just as shocked. Even more." Torvald nodded.
"Gee..." Bitalo didn't know what to say at first, but he soon got his voice back. "No wonder Vanellope fell in love with Ralph. I mean he was willing to sacrifice his life for this game. Her game."
"Well, it was mostly to save her. If she had been able to escape Ralph probably wouldn't have done it." Torvald smiled. "And Vanellope didn't realize her feelings for Ralph until she nearly lost him around a year later. Turbo returned as a cybug monster for revenge, having escaped being burnt to death at the last second, and Ralph nearly lost his life as he and his friends tried to defeat him. Fortunately they were able to, Turbo is completely gone."
"That's good, I'd never want to meet that jerk." Bitalo said with relief.
"Now come on, I'm not done with you yet." Torvald grinned.
"Oh spinach..." Bitalo muttered.
They went on another coaster. This time Bitalo fainted on the ride so Torvald had to drag him onto a bench and lay him down for real. He was out for quite some time but Torvald wiping his forehead with a wet cloth managed to wake him up.
"No more Torvald." Bitalo said weakly. "Have some mercy here...can we take a real break this time? I don't think my heart can take another ride."
"Okay, I'll show some leniency." Torvald scanned the park and found one of the calmest rides. "We'll take a break on the ferris wheel."
After Bitalo recovered enough to be able to walk Torvald led him to the ferris wheel. Bitalo had never been to an amusement park or carnival before so he didn't even know what a ferris wheel was until he saw it.
"That's the largest thing in the park!" He gasped, afraid again. "No way...I'll stay on the ground."
"I promise it won't be scary." Torvald turned and saw him about to protest. "Or kill you." She added.
"Fine." Bitalo gave in, too tired to argue.
They went on the ferris wheel. Bitalo clutched the bar in front of him as it started to turn upward, but slowly let go due to the ferris wheel being really slow. He then looked over the edge and had to admit the view wasn't too bad.
"This isn't so bad." He admitted. "At least it's going slow."
"I always keep my promises." Torvald smiled.
Bitalo relaxed and just leaned back. Torvald, growing comfortable, leaned against Bitalo. Bitalo felt his heart skip a beat and couldn't help but smile. Despite the terrifying day she had given him he still really liked her. Maybe even...loved her.
They both went home near the end of the day very happy. Bitalo even had to admit that the scary rides had been worth spending time with Torvald, and decided to just trust her from now on. Even though she was bold and courageous she wasn't stupid or reckless.