Author's Note: This scene probably should have been done sooner, but I didn't want to spoil the surprise for chapter 18.
Vanellope, Taffyta and Rancis reached the Kart Bakery. It was still being guarded by Beard Papa, but there were no 'No Glitches' signs anywhere. Just the way Vanellope liked it. Not that she was a glitch anymore by any means. Her glitching was simply a part of who she was by then.
"Well what's this? Princess?" Beard Papa asked surprisedly. Why's she so tiny? Well it's nothing to worry about I'm sure.. Kids these days have all sorts of weird abilities. Even King Candy can make an endless supply of candy if he wanted to.
"Can you open the bakery up for us, Pops?" Taffyta asked sweetly, "We need to get this sweetie a kart."
"Of course, right this way," Beard Papa said with a chuckle as he pressed a button to raise the candy cane barricade. He walked them over to the door and unlocked it for them. With the flip of a switch the lights turned on.
Had Vanellope not been to the kart bakery several times in her game since the Turbo incident for fun, she would have been a little apprehensive coming here, even with Ralph. Hang in there, Ralph. I'll be done in a minute. It was remarkably similar to the Kart Bakery in the first Sugar Rush game. The developers rightfully didn't want to take out a popular game mechanic. Vanellope looked at all of the kart types and chose the one she was most familiar with, the same kind she used in her own game.
"Welcome to the Bakery! Let's bake a kart!" a loud voice rang out accompanied by music, "You have one minute to win it!"
"Alright, one minute," Vanellope said to herself with excitement. She ran to the controls and threw away the trash, while adding the good stuff to the mixing bowl. She'd gotten used to predicting when to turn the wheel that controlled how the platform turned.
"Batter up!" the voice rang out again as the giant mixer came down to mix the ingredients before pouring it into the kart mold.
Vanellope laughed, remembering Ralph and the first time she made a kart. I wish Ralph were here though..
"Baking! Pump up the heat and hold the perfect temperature!" the voice rang out once again.
She ran over to the next stage of making the kart. It was different than in her game. Instead of manually pumping, there were two buttons that had to be alternately pressed at a certain rate to get the temperature just right. "Oh, they changed it!" she yelled happily. This is the part I like least from my game. It's so tiring, jumping on the pump. Her arms were a little tired by the time it was baked.
"Decorating!" the voice rang out once more.
She carefully aimed and shot the wheel dispenser 4 times. Then came her favorite part.. She randomly shot at everything else. Teal colored Frosting like her hoodie, orange and purple star-shaped sprinkles fell onto the kart with no real pattern.
Taffyta smirked with one eyebrow raised and looked over to Rancis who was doing the same. This Vanellope is a little more capricious than the one we already knew.. Or maybe she really is like this and we never noticed? We only just got plugged in after all..
"Times up! Congratulations, you did it, and here's your kart!" the voice rang out one final time. The door raised, a few sprinkles rolled out before the finished kart, but nothing on the scale of what it would have been like if Ralph was at the controls.
The kart rolled out, another piece of art in Vanellope's eyes. To be honest it actually wasn't bad. It was evenly iced with the teal frosting, and it had pink lining in addition to the sprinkles it was littered with. The seat was a bent devil creme and the steering wheel was a pretzel.
"Yes!" Vanellope yelled excitedly, completely satisfied with the end result. If only Ralph were here.. She sighed, rather than fawn over her new kart further. A slip of paper printed out next to the kart oven giving her the code. "Thank you," she said sweetly as she grabbed the code print-out and stuffed it into the pocket of her hoodie.
An electronic readout on the code dispenser read, "You're Welcome!"
Taffyta noticed Vanellope wasn't quite as happy as she expected her to be and asked, "Hey, what's the matter?" I expected you to yell, 'I love it!' several times for some reason..
"I just remembered the reason I really came here to this game," Vanellope said with a sigh, "Ralph.. Uh, my friend lost his memory and might have gotten lost in this game, so I came here to look for him." I wish he could have been here to help me make this kart. He could have added his usual flare to it..
"Well what does he look like?" Taffyta asked softly, bending down to hug her. Cheer up, baby girl..
"He's kind of big like a gorilla," Vanellope said with a laugh, wiping her eyes. She wasn't quite crying, but her eyes were starting to water. She continued to describe him, using her hands as a visual aid. "He's got these big hands that are like, bigger than me. He's got this orange and red plaid shirt and burgundy overalls with only one strap hooked." What else to add?
"Hey, didn't we see that guy headed to the castle with-" Rancis said before being cut off. I've been cut off. He chuckled.
"Oh yeah! He is here, sweetie!" Taffya said excitedly, pulling herself out of the hug to look Vanellope in the eye. Sorry Rancis, I didn't mean to cut you off like that.
"He is?!" Vanellope asked, perking up instantly, "Hmm.. Sorry Taffyta, can we maybe race some other time? I gotta knock some sense into him." I can't make him wait anymore.. But he's at the castle? I can meet myself too while I'm at it! I guess he does remember me, at least partially.
"We understand," Taffyta said sweetly, "Would you like us to go with you?" We've never really gone there before, but Vannie and I are good friends..
"Nah, I'm good," Vanellope said confidently. You two probably already have something planned. I don't want to butt in.
"It was nice seeing you," Rancis said warmly. I wonder how little Taffyta and I are doing.. I'll have to meet them soon.
Vanellope waved goodbye and drove off to the castle. Hang onto your overalls, Ralph! I'm on my way!
"Alright you two, go play somewhere else," Beard Papa said gruffly. I have a mess to clean up and I don't need to get distracted.
"Bye Pops," Rancis said jokingly as he and Taffyta went outside and got into her kart. He had his own somewhere of course, but he preferred to ride with Taffyta when they weren't racing.
Beard Papa humphed, not turning to look at him. He went back inside and grabbed a broom and dustpan from a closet. Alright, time to get this mess cleaned up. I sure could use some cream puffs about now.
Taffyta and Rancis drove off to 'Sugar Beach' to relax. They had been racing all day thanks to Litwak.
Vanellope drove up to the castle and parked her kart next to another kart that was already there. It was Reese's peanut butter cup themed. Why is Rancis' kart here? Well it's no big deal, I guess. He is riding with Taffyta. She knocked intensely on the door, hoping it would bring someone to the door sooner. She could hear a man yelling inside somewhere, but couldn't make out the voice or what he was saying. He sounds a little familiar..
After a short while, Vannie opened the door. They both shrieked loudly upon meeting each other.
"You're so adorable!" Vannie yelled. This is so cool!
"You're so pretty!" Vanellope yelled, jumping in to hug her. That's one more thing I can scratch off my list of things to do in this game! "Wait, before anything else.." She refocused herself and pushed back a little to look her other self in the eyes, "Is there a big gorilla man named Ralph here?"
"You know Ralph?" Vannie asked with a laugh. That description is dead on. "Yeah, he's right this way, come on." I wonder how she knows Ralph. And how she knows he's here.
They held each other's hand as Vannie led the way to the dining room.
They went in, and there Ralph was, just standing up a few yards away, in a purple suit.
"Ralph!" Vanellope yelled excitedly before glitching onto his chest and giving him a big hug. Well, as big as she could muster with her small size. "So you really were here, you son of a gun! And what's with the suit?" She investigated the purple suit with interest. It doesn't suit you at all..
Vannie raised an eyebrow. What was that she did just now? And I wonder how she knows Ralph..
Author's Note: Taffyta and Rancis are being so nice, letting Vanellope do all the baking herself.