It was October now. Citrusella had finally recovered enough to rejoin the Roster Races, much to everyone's relief. They also started to talk about what costumes they were going to wear to the Halloween party Vanellope was setting up.
October started to go normally, until another accident during a Roster Race happened.
A jawbreaker had broken loose from the ground and started rolling towards the track. Vanellope, in trying to avoid it, quickly glitched out of the way. Unfortunately, she didn't plan the distance properly and ended up in front of Torvald. This startled Torvald so much that she ended up crashing into Vanellope and they skidded to the edge of the canyon they were near! Vanellope's kart was now upside down with the front hanging off the edge, and Torvald's kart was pinned to Vanellope's on the driver's side.
"Sorry about that Torvald, are you ok-" Vanellope had just looked over the edge of the canyon. "Sweet mother of monkey milk!" She gasped.
Torvald looked over the edge too.
"Oh my programmer, we're gonna die!" She panicked.
"Torvald, you're supposed to be the brave one." Vanellope pointed out.
"Not when it comes to death!" Torvald started to sob a little. "Regeneration or not I don't want to die!"
"Torvald listen to me." Vanellope said sternly but reassuringly. "We'll make it out just fine, we just can't afford to panic."
Torvald started to calm down.
"Well what are we gonna do?" She asked. "I'm pinned between your car and my seat and your car is tilting on the edge."
"Well..."
"Torvald!"
"Mom!"
Startled, Torvald and Vanellope turned the best they could and saw Bitalo and Reneult stop their karts near them.
"We saw what happened, hang on we're gonna get you out of there." Bitalo explained.
"Be careful son." Vanellope said. "I don't want you to get hurt."
"Me get hurt? You're the one who's close to falling down a canyon." Reneult retorted as he started to lift his mom's kart a little.
"He has a point." Torvald nodded.
Reneult managed to lift Vanellope's kart enough to allow Bitalo to get Torvald out of her kart. Reneult then lowered Vanellope's kart in a way that allowed Bitalo to help Vanellope out. Reneult then was able to carefully move the karts so that they wouldn't fall. It wasn't as important as saving Torvald and Vanellope, but he knew how much his mom's kart meant to her.
"I'm so proud of you Reneult." Vanellope hugged him. "You're a hero just like your father."
Reneult looked flattered, obviously he had always admired Ralph and had been hoping to be like him despite being a Racer. Torvald, meanwhile, was giving Bitalo a big kiss.
Ralph and Candiel showed up in Candiel's kart. Candiel had it near the stands due to him, Vanellope, and Reneult having planned to have a family race soon after the Roster Race.
"Way to go son!" Ralph beamed. "I'm so proud of you."
Reneult just grinned.
"Are you okay Vanellope?" Ralph then asked.
"I'm fine." Vanellope grinned.
Candiel hugged her.
"For a moment I thought I was going to lose you." He said.
"Uh, daddy, I would've regenerated anyway." Vanellope pointed out.
"Even so..." Candiel then looked over to Reneult. "Way to go Chocolate Chip. You really do take after your father as well as your mother."
Reneult obviously was feeling great right now.
Vanellope and Torvald's karts were a little messed up, so Felix fixed them. It turns out he had been clinging to Ralph's back during the trip.
After Felix fixed the karts, they all drove to the finish line. The other Racers and citizens were all very happy to see Torvald and Vanellope alive and well and cheered Bitalo and Reneult. Sourward went over to Bitalo.
"Way to go buddy." Sourward grinned.
"Aw, it was nothing." Bitalo shrugged humbly. "I'm just glad Torvald and Vanellope are okay."
Stormberry went over to Reneult.
"That was amazing." She blushed a little.
"Oh it's nothing compared to what my dad can do." Reneult shrugged, still grinning from the praises. "He can break jawbreakers and smash through metal. I'm nowhere near that strong."
"Not your strength, your bravery." Stormberry shook her head, smiling. "I mean saving your mom like that...wow."
"Well...regeneration or not I couldn't let her die." He rubbed the back of his head. "My name's Reneult...but you probably already knew that. Stormberry right?"
"Right." Stormberry nodded. "Say, we never actually talked before have we?"
"My fault, I had been living with mostly female Racers almost all my life so when more guys arrived I wanted to become friends with them first." Reneult explained.
"Understandable."
They continued talking, sharing their interests. Stormberry wasn't into racing like Reneult, but she did love watching the races. What she really liked to do is go to the beach, park, or a pool. She loved playing beach volleyball, and also loved watching her bother Bodhivian surf. Like some girls she enjoyed shopping, but mostly for books and summer gear. Lately she also started to enjoy basketball. Reneult didn't mind the beach, but mostly preferred parks and pools. He liked swimming and playing certain sports and having picnics with his family. As for shopping he just liked shopping for books and toys. The conversation later switched from interests to family.
"So, do you have any pets?" Stormberry asked.
"Nah, mom's only interested in getting horses and I haven't found the right pet yet." Reneult shrugged. "We haven't got a horse yet because her mom, my grandma, used to own them before she died giving birth to mom. Grandpa hasn't recovered from her death yet."
"I'm really sorry to hear that." Stormberry said sympathetically.
"Same here. I also wish I could've known grandma but both mom and grandpa said that she knows me through heaven and loves me so that's good enough. What pets do you have?"
"We have two pets. Bodhi owns a tortoise named Bank. Friendly little guy but doesn't do much. I have a goldfish named Sunny, she's smart. She can leap and dive through hoops."
"Cool, I'd like to see that someday."
"How about a little later today? Bodhi and Adora have another date so it'll be just me and my parents anyway."
"Great!" Reneult grinned. "I'll see you then."
"You bet!" Stormberry grinned.
They then left to go back to their own families and talk to them. They wanted to tell their families about their new friend and get permission for the playdate they had just set up.
As the days passed Reneult and Stormberry ended up becoming best friends.
Later, near the end of October, Ralph visited Vanellope to discuss costumes for the Halloween party. Vanellope led him to their bedroom, where there were a couple boxes on the bed.
"I already came up with our costumes." Vanellope smiled.
She then opened them to reveal a bunch of black and four bolts.
"Frankenstien's monster and the Bride of Frankenstein." She grinned.
"I...I dunno Vanellope." Ralph frowned. "I don't think this is a good idea."
"Why not? I think it's a great idea." Vanellope's smiled faded.
"Yeah but...I mean I was thinking more along the lines of couple of superheroes or..."
"But...but I already bought the costumes...okay I should've asked you first but..." Vanellope hung her head.
"I...I gotta go." Ralph left.
Vanellope fell onto her knees. She wasn't hurt from Ralph's reaction, instead she was upset for having hurt him. Even though it was always hard for him to state his feelings plainly - unless he was really feeling them - she still got that she had unintentionally offended him. She should've known that Ralph would never want to dress up as a monster, especially since he used to be thought of as one.
Ralph walked through Sugar Rush towards the costume shop, hoping that he could find better costumes. He saw Gloyd and Jubileena coming out of the shop as he neared it.
"Hi Ralph." Gloyd smiled.
"Hey, you two got your costumes?" Ralph smiled slightly.
"Yeah, can't tell you what they are though we want to surprise everyone at the party." Jubileena nodded. "What are you and Vanellope going as?"
"Well, Vanellope picked out Frankenstein's monster and his bride but...but I don't want to dress up as a monster." Ralph sighed.
"Ralph, he wasn't a real monster." Gloyd said. "He was just a misunderstood creature who people thought was a monster because he was different. But despite being different he wasn't evil or anything, he was actually nice...though a little like a newborn due to having been created recently."
"Really?" Ralph was surprised.
"Yeah."
"Oh...then maybe it's not a bad idea after all." Ralph smiled before heading back to the castle. "Thanks Gloyd."
"Anytime!" Gloyd waved after him.
Ralph headed back to the castle...meeting Vanellope at the front entrance. She was holding the boxes.
"Oh Ralph, I..." She hung her head again. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. I'll return the costumes..."
"No it's okay." Ralph put a hand around her shoulder gently. "I wasn't hurt, I was just uncomfortable about the idea. I...I guess I had this foolish fear that dressing up as a monster would cause people to see me as one again. But then I ran into Gloyd and he told me that the monster wasn't a monster at all, he was a misunderstood creature."
"I know...that's why I got the idea in the first place." Vanellope looked up, smiling a little.
"Well, I've changed my mind: it's a great idea." Ralph smiled.
Vanellope beamed and kissed him. Later on she searched for Gloyd and thanked him for making Ralph feel better about the idea,
Halloween evening, everyone got into their costumes and prepared to head for the field where they usually had the parties.
Ralph and Vanellope had just finished getting into their costumes.
"Well don't you look handsome." Vanellope flirted teasingly.
"Yeah, looks like I gave you such a jolt that it affected your hair." Ralph teased back.
Vanellope gave him a playful punch on the arm. They then started to leave the castle with Reneult, who had decided to go as Frankenstein's monster Jr. Along the way to the front door they met up with Candiel...who was dressed as a scientist.
"Dr. Frankenstein right grandpa?" Reneult guessed.
"Exactly, thought I might as well complete the theme." Candiel chuckled.
"Very funny daddy." Vanellope smiled sarcastically.
"Yeah, really funny." A dry voice said.
They looked past Candiel and saw Sour Bill dressed up as Igor. They stared at him.
"King Candiel made me." Sour Bill crossed his arms defensively.
Vanellope, Ralph, and Reneult cracked up.
"Okay, now that is funny." Vanellope laughed.
Sour Bill stuck his tongue out at them.
They then left the castle.
"So how did grandpa get you to dress up as Igor?" Reneult asked.
"Don't ask." Sour Bill said bitterly.
"I used puppy-dog eyes on him." Candiel grinned.
"Sire!" Sour Bill protested as Vanellope laughed.
"So that's where Vanellope got it from." Ralph remarked.
"Huh, wonder if I inherited it." Reneult mused.
"Whether you did or not I'll teach you how to do it later." Vanellope smiled.
"Okay." Reneult smiled.
"Great, I'm gonna be outnumbered." Ralph muttered as Sour Bill groaned.
As they headed to the party they started to see what the other costumes were. First they met up with Felix and Tamora, who were Batman and Catwoman respectively. Luann was there too as Batgirl.
"Tammy's idea." Felix rubbed the back of his head, knowing that he looked very ironic. "I agreed on the condition that Tammy wouldn't use her whip on anyone."
"Heavy price, but I was willing to pay it just to see my man look dark and mysterious." Tamora smirked.
Felix honeyglowed.
After the rest of the guests arrived the party started. Everyone loved Gloyd and Jubileena's costume surprise: Jack Skellington (the pumpkin king version) and Sally, and their pets' costumes were good too. Gloyd's bat Hallo was there too unsurprisingly, and was wearing a white sheet, floppy ears, and a glowing nose to represent Zero. Jubileena brought her scarlet macaw Cheery, who was wearing a black outfit and black ears to represent the cat Sally petted at one point during the movie.
Swizzle and Minty were Aladdin and Jasmine (Swizzle went with Aladdin's 'street rat' look). They even did the extra step of dressing up Minty's labrador Caramel as Genie and Swizzle's beagle Hercules as Abu.
Rancis was dressed up in Elvis's gold outfit, and his German Shepherd Reese even wore a 1950s scarf. Taffyta was dressed up in a Poodle Power outfit. That is she wore an off-the-shoulder pink top with white dots, black leggings and high heels, and a pink scarf around her neck. Since it was dark she skipped wearing sunglasses and just wore pink cat-eye glasses instead. She didn't bring her tabby Arrow because Arrow liked to streak after people and grab them, which would've freaked out too many people and made it hard to enjoy the party.
Matlow and Candlehead were dressed up as an astronaut and a alien. Candlehead had also brought Sweetie and he too wore alien antennae. Candlehead didn't bring Clucka though, she wasn't much of a crowd chicken.
Bodhivian and Adorabeezle were dressed up as Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty, with Stormberry tagging along as Betsy Ross (it was Adorabeezle's idea unsurprisingly). Adorabeezle also brought her red-and-white husky Liberty, who was dressed up as an eagle. Bodhivian brought his tortoise Bank, who was wearing a cardboard star on his shell, but Stormberry decided to leave her goldfish Sunny at home. She didn't want to risk anything since it was easy to harm a fish, plus it would've been a pain carrying the bowl everywhere. Bank could be out of his cage so it was easy for Bodhivian to bring him.
Pepsino and Snowanna dressed up as disco dancers. Basically Snowanna looked the same, only she skipped the jacket and wore a top that revealed her middle. She didn't bring her corn snake Blizzard because it was chilly out and he hated cold weather. Pepsino didn't bring Mr. Fizz for the same reason.
Graham and Crumbelina were dressed up as a lord and lady unsurprisingly. Tira also looked very fancy with her golden collar, and Graham's St Bernard Nick wore a bowtie and monocle. Nick did love to play a lot, but he knew he had to act the part and so was on his best behavior.
Everyone also liked Sourward and Citrusella's costumes: Willy Wonka and Betty Crocker. Nutsy came along as a walnut (he wore a headpiece that looked like one). Sourward had a pet, a bunny named Mona, but she was scared of people (except for Sourward and his family and the Honeyways).
Bitalo and Torvald came as a bee and sunflower. Torvald was against the idea of dressing up as a flower at first, even if sunflowers were one of her favorites, but Bitalo talked her into it. Basically he said that sunflowers were cool and bright, just like her, and that was enough to convince her.
Charleston and Nougestia went as a WWII soldier and a nurse. Nougestia brought Marsha, her chinchilla, as well. Marsha also wore a nurse cap and was looking forward to the goodies (Sugar Rush animals were able to eat goodies and candies). Charleston brought his dalmatian Rin-Tin-Tin as an army dog. Basically Rin-Tin-Tin wore a soldier cap and vest.
Adamec and Sticky went as Eros and Psyche. Some others first thought Sticky was Aphrodite but she corrected them. She had brought her lovebirds Pongo and Perdita, who wore heart-shaped headbands on their heads, and Adamec brought his bearded dragon Sparky, who wore wings on his back to represent a cherub.
Applelo and Madison came as Lone Ranger and Tonto, and had also brought Pielan and Smoothie (who had moved in with Madison after she and her parents moved into Sugar Rush). They rode Pielan and Smoothie part of the way, and then dismounted and walked them the rest of the way.
Henreesa and Mazie came as a tiger and a doe, and were the only duo to not bring a single pet. Mazie didn't want to bring Bribon for obvious reasons, and Henreesa decided to leave Bosko at home to make Mazie feel better about not letting Bribon come to the party.
Madison's friends were there too. Ayda came as a baseball player, Skyler came as Cindy Crawford in a purple dress and pretended to model for everyone at one point, and Kerri came as Marilyn Monroe. She even quoted a few of Marilyn's famous quotes when appropriate.
Everyone had a wonderful time during the party, and was sorry when it was over. But then again they did have Christmas to look forward to. Plus it was getting close to the end of the fall semester for the students, which meant that special events were coming up...