Vannie and Vanellope drove back to the castle with Ralph since he absolutely needed his original outfit back.
"Huh, Rancis' kart is gone," Vannie said confusedly, "He must've used his code to pick it up." Why was his kart here to begin with? There's no reason to suspect anything of him though, so why is it bothering me so much? Sure I'm friends with all the racers, but for them to come to the castle is unheard of. Well, not that they would be shooed off the premises or anything.
They opened the door and went inside.
"Good evening princess," Sour Bill said in his usual monotone, "and.. little princess?" From the original Sugar Rush, I guess. No idea who the big guy is.. He was busy wiping something up with a spray bottle and towel near the back of the throne.
"Dad was looking for you earlier," Vannie said teasingly. Where were you, I wonder?
"Long story. I could tell you," Sour Bill said.
"Please do!" Vanellope said excitedly as she glitched back onto Ralph's shoulder. I love it when my Sour Bill tell stories for some reason. It gets me unusually pumped up because he talks so slow all the time. It may have something to do with my active imagination, I don't know.
"Well.. Some guy came earlier. Grey skinned," Sour Bill said slowly, "He grabbed me.. covered my mouth and came back here." He pulled back a section of the light purple curtain which revealed a white elevator, not very similar to the rest of the castle's architecture. It was more futuristic-looking.
Ralph was getting a little impatient and it showed on his face. I never had the patience for stories that aren't about me. This one is already getting on in length. He stayed silent regardless.
Vanellope tried not to panic when she heard the guy had grey skin. It can't be Turbo. It can't be..
"He tried to break into the code room back here," Sour Bill said.
Vanellope swallowed hard and hugged Ralph's neck, which Ralph didn't mind for some reason unknown to him. It has to be Turbo! Who else could it be?!
Sour Bill continued his story, "He knocked me out. Seems like Salty Phil heard banging on the door to the code room when it wouldn't open and called guards a while ago. He ran away. Salty Phil got a hit in on him first." Sour Bill smirked briefly. When they got closer while he was telling his story, they saw that he had been cleaning up a small blood trail which resulted from the grey skinned man getting decked in the nose by Salty Phil. Quite the feat for someone of such small stature.
Sour Bill stopped talking and started putting a shine on the spot where the last bit blood had been.
They stood there for a moment expecting him to say more.
Sour Bill looked up at them and said, "The End." I don't know what else happened, sorry.
"It had to be Turbo, Ralph!" Vanellope said worriedly. She held it in as best she could until Sour Bill finished. "It shouldn't have been him. He should be dead! But he had grey skin, Ralph! And it's the same thing Turbo did!" She took a deep breath in an attempt to control her panic. Calm down.. At least he couldn't mess up this game. But what if he tries to mess with my game again?!
"Alright, kid. I understand kid," Ralph said softly, "I'll get my clothes and we'll follow him. He won't get away." I may have my priorities a little messed up there, sorry..
Vanellope whined wordlessly. That's not the most pressing issue here, Ralph! Well it can't take him long to get them on..
"Spicy Jill put your clothes this way," Sour Bill said, "Follow me." Sour Bill led them to a guest room up the stairs. Ralph's clothes were on the bed folded neatly.
"I think Dad wanted you to stay here," Vannie said sheepishly. He's always been nice like that.. I wonder if Ralph would stay.. She swallowed hard and rubbed the side of her neck nervously.
Ralph scoffed and shooed them away, closing the door in the process. I appreciate the offer, but.. He quickly got changed. I don't really think it's appropriate. I need to stop thinking about her like that. It's weird.
"Alright, let's go!" Ralph said urgently as he left the room. Now I can wear my game face.
"Give us a radio, Sour Bill!" Vannie said urgently. I need to calm down, but how can I when someone tried to break into our game's code? That's something I absolutely can't forgive.
They were lucky that their game no longer used the Konami Code that most games used to unlock their code rooms.
Sour Bill pulled out a radio from wherever he keeps things on that small body of his and handed it to her. I can just get another one later.
"This is princess Vanellope, do you have a lock on the intruder?" Vannie asked over the radio and waited for a response. Now isn't the time to let my emotions run wild..
Markowski, Spears, Candlehead and Jubileena were driving around in Sugar Rush 2 again just past the Taffy Swamp. Candlehead was back in her kart, with Markowski sitting in the back seat. Similarly, Spears was sitting behind Jubileena in her kart. Spears didn't know, but he still had scribbles on his face from earlier. They didn't saying anything because he was wearing a helmet anyway. Jubileena had agreed on behalf of her and Candlehead to assist in catching 'those guys'.
"So who are these guys anyway?" Jubileena asked. Who exactly are we dealing with? She had always been the more focused of the two racers, even though Candlehead had more skill.
"It seems like they come from this old game called Turbo Time that was unplugged decades ago," Markowski said, "Jet and Set, so they're called."
"Look over there!" Candlehead pointed off in the distance. I hope you can see what I'm pointing at..
They could hardly see, but Wynnchel and Duncan, along with several members of the C.L.A.W. team in a pink van, were driving after Jet, who had been using Rancis' kart. Rancis wasn't very protective of his kart when he wasn't using it. It's not like he had to worry since he had his code memorized. He had left it lying around somewhere when he decided to ride with Taffyta. He would just have her drive him to a garage later.
The officers were doing well enough to keep up, but they just couldn't cut him off. Wynnchel sighed. Why can't vehicles cars have power-ups too? It's a security flaw we've been bringing up for years now, but still nothing!
"That's got to be one of them! Let's go!" Markowski said excitedly. He didn't have a helmet on, unlike Spears. He always felt the helmet got in the way, making him walk into walls half the time. He had a look of satisfaction on his face, finally being relevant to something, unlike how he'd been living in his game for months.
Candlehead looked back at him for a moment before chuckling to herself. Someone's enjoying this..
After a few minutes they caught up and drove alongside Wynnchel and Duncan.
Jet was headed to Sugar Beach to meet up with his brother after failing to do his part. He had tissues in his nose, since it was still bleeding. He found them in the glove compartment. We need to think up a new plan, but how am I going to shake off security? Jet wasn't as good as his brother. He always came in last place in Turbo Time. Or second if the Player was that bad at the game. I can't be more than a few seconds ahead of them right now.. Not nearly enough.
"Hey," Jubileena said to Wynnchel and Duncan, "We'll help you. Keep him distracted and we'll cut him off."
"We appreciate it Jubileena," Duncan said with a smile, "Big fan by the way."
Jubileena and Candlehead drove around, making a detour through the Pocky Plains, predicting he was probably headed to Sugar Beach, since that's where it looked like Set, the one wearing armor, was headed when he was using Candlehead's kart earlier.
"This is your last chance, pull over now ya grey freak!" Wynnchel taunted with a bullhorn. That oughta do it.
Jet looked back for a moment out of anger. So what if I have grey skin? You think I like it? One of these buttons has to help.. I wish I had more time to familiarize myself with these controls.. It's not the green one, I know that for sure. The one on the steering wheel is pretty much the only other one here, but I thought for sure it's a horn.. He pressed it. If he was wrong it'd just be a horn anyway. Chocolate syrup poured from the back of the kart which made Wynnchel and Duncan, and the C.L.A.W. officers lose control of their vehicles.
Jet turned his head back briefly in satisfaction. Take that, doughnut freaks. Upon turning his attention back to his front, he noticed Jubileena and Candlehead fast approaching from the other end of the Pocky Plains. There weren't any turns they had to worry about, so they managed to get ahead of him quite easily. Oh, come on..
Jubileena smirked. You can't expect to beat a racer at their own game. That's something you're about to learn the hard way.
Jet took a quick turn through the Pocky Plains. Detour, detour, come on! At least somewhere to hide for now! By then Wynnchel and Duncan regained control of their vehicles and headed into the Pocky Plains as well. It wasn't long before Jet was cornered at a cliff, which he had barely noticed in time to come to a swerving stop. Sugar Beach is right down there, but it's a long drop I can't expect to survive.. He sighed and got out of the kart, putting his hands in the air. Whatever happens now will better than dying.. Being forgotten.. He clenched his teeth, careful not to show off their yellow glow.
The officers picked on him for a while to seal their victory before tossing him in the van with the C.L.A.W. team and driving off in the direction of the castle.
"This is Princess Vanellope, do you have a lock on the intruder?" the Vannie said over the radio.
"We got 'em Princess, we're en route to the castle. ETA 5 minutes," Wynnchel said happily into the radio.
"Guy gave us quite a bit of trouble," Duncan said happily into the radio, "We lucked out and these two soldiers and a couple of racers got him. Even got an autograph." That's going right on my wall.
"Good, put him in the Fungeon," Vannie said over the radio with a sigh of relief, "We'll decide what to do with him later." Sorry, Ralph. I guess we don't have to worry about it now. I wanted to help catch him too.. I'm sure little me feels the same.
"Well.." Ralph said, "I guess we can go to your game now after all." I wanted to be the one to catch him though..
"We should wait until they get here," Vanellope said insistently. I don't think I can rest until I see him locked up, or worse.
Five minutes passed and the officers drove up to the castle. Ralph, Vannie, Vanellope, Sour Bill, and Salty Phil were waiting outside. Markowski's group decided to head off to Sugar Beach in case they could help find Set as well.
The officers pulled Jet from the van, which made Vanellope gasp. It's not Turbo. But close.. His face is a bit more round, and his nose is a little bigger. "You're not Turbo.." Vanellope said in shock. So Turbo really is dead then, good.. But who is this? He's obviously from Turbo Time..
"No. I'm not. But I might as well be," Jet said guiltily. His hands were bound with handcuffs made of rock candy. Maybe this is for the best. I deserve this after what I've done..
Jet wasn't quite as.. enthusiastic about their escapades as his brother was. It was all a means to an end, not becoming obsolete. Turbo had given him and Set a copy of the Konami Code as a parting gift just before he went Turbo, saying he 'shan't' return. Back then, practically nobody was playing Turbo Time, only going to it when RoadBlasters was already in use, usually being left mid-game when it became available. Their game was doomed anyway, so Set insisted they do the same, but go to a different kind of game. They didn't like Turbo very much, Set practically hated him in fact, but they put up with him because he was kind of like family to them. They worried when RoadBlasters and Turbo Time became unplugged the next day, hoping Turbo wouldn't mess with 'their' games, but he never did. They always wondered where he had been all those years, but it didn't matter as long as he stayed out of their way.
"Nice nose there boy," Salty Phil said to.. rub salt in the wound. He may be a little nuts.
Vanellope insisted that she, Ralph and Vannie follow the officers to the Fungeon to make sure Jet didn't escape, though he went into the cell without incident.
"Satisfied, little girl?" Jet asked tiredly. I can understand her determination after hearing from Sarge.. From Calhoun what happened to her, but it won't stop me from disliking her. She's been looking at me this entire time with such hateful eyes.. Well, I guess I did say so myself. I might as well be Turbo. But still, come on.