((I'm sorry that this chapter is a slow... Big thanks for Isangtao for that review, I really appreciated it!))

Chapter 6

Swizzle told Vanellope of him being almost arrested by the dout police chasing him. She was surprised to hear this, and she agreed to let him stay inside Diet Cola Mountain until King Candy's temper cool down.

"But that means, you're a criminal now and you got the donut police looking all over for you," she told him.

"Yeah, that really helps me trying to get back in the race," Swizzle said sarcastically.

He parked his kart near the secret opening where he crashed through and followed Vanellope further into the mountain.

While he agreed to make whatever deal with Vanellope, he still plans to backstab her and leave her in some trouble. He still doesn't trust her because she's still a glitch, and he is only using her so he can find ways to get some gold coins to pay his fee for the roster races. He might even turn her in and King Candy might forgive him for running away and pardon him for his crimes. A small part of him felt guilty for deceiving her like that, but he ignored it.

"Where am I?" Swizzle asked.

"This is my home!" she said when she gestured all around her. "I found that secret opening back there, and I'm the only one living here."

"Huh, that's interesting to know... I've always wanted to come to this mountain and find some hidden tracks, but I never got around to it. I'm always busy with racing and so on," he told her. Swizzle realized he was perspiring a little. "Is it just me or is this place a little warm?"

"Well, what do you expect for the inside of a volcano?"

He stopped and looked at Vanellope incredulously. "You live here… inside a volcano?!"

"Guh-DOY!" Vanellope said, rolling her eyes. "Of course, bubble-dumb, I don't live in a house or special room in the castle."

Swizzle looked around inside the mountain. It was a large open area littered with caramel and chocolate rocks. A bubbling diet cola lava pit filled the middle of the cavern, and a huge white stalactite hung over the center, suspended from a high ceiling. He could see a nerby sign that read "DIET COLA HOT SPRINGS".

"… Beware of falling Mentos?" he repeated the smaller words underneath the name.

"Oh! Check this out!" Vanellope said, grabbing a small candy rock and launch it at the stalactite, which was made of round, white mints. A small chunk of candy broke off and dropped into the diet cola. A chemical reaction immediately caused a small glowing geyser to spurt into the air. A few splashes hit the ground, just several feet away from them but they were small, sizzling sounds.

"Watch out for the splash," Vanellope advised. "That stuff's boiling hot."

"Whoooaaa! That was so cool!" Swizzle was highly impressed to see the hot geyser. "Can I try what you did?"

Vanellope grinned and handed him another rock. Swizzle threw the rock at the stalactite and watched another Mentos candy fall. He laughed with excitement as the second geyser spurt until a splash fell on his foot, and began hopping around from the burn.

"Yeow, that is really hot!" he cringed, but is still grinning. "I always wondered why this mountain is making so much rumbling noises..."

He looked around the huge room and found broken ramps and race-tracks around the walls. "Is this some kind of unfinished level?"

"I guess it is," Vanellope shrugged. Then she smiled and jumped over to a small shack made of old materials and garbage. "This is where I sleep. I use these wrappers so I bundle myself like a little homeless lady." She giggled as she did this.

Swizzle tried to crack a smile. She does look cute rolled up in a candy wrapper, but at the same she looked pitiful. Swizzle may be a racer who isn't as popular as Taffyta or King Candy, but at least he had fans and a nice room to stay in. Vanellope, on the other hand, lived in an unfinished racetrack inside a dangerous mountain, all on her own with no friends. Everybody in this game hated her, including Swizzle. Maybe he and the others did misunderstood her and he felt more guilty for treating her harshly for several years.

"We were really shabby towards you, huh?" he asked softly. "We treated you like garbage and now you lived here… in this garbage."

Vanellope looked at him and sighed sadly. "What do you expect? Everyone thinks I'm a mistake and I shouldn't even exist. Even you said I'm an accident waiting to happen. I wish I could leave this game a long time ago, but I can't—glitches can't leave their games!"

"I know…" Swizzle cringed at her words and then rubbed the back of his neck. "I think I was wrong about you."

"You are?" Vanellope asked, her image flicker a bit.

Swizzle went and sat beside her. "King Candy won't let you race because you might glitch a few times, and I understand his point of view. But this is the same guy who won't let me race again and he tried to arrest me for sneaking out of Sugar Rush."

"He did that?!" Vanellope was surprised. "Wow, this guy's nuttier than a fruitcake."

Swizzle laughed and continued, "What I'm trying to say is that… I guess it wouldn't hurt if you became a racer. Sure, you might glitch a few times, but I think the players might like you…"

His voice trailed off. He knows this is a lie, because he always believed that her glitching might still break the game and everyone would become homeless. He felt horrible deceiving her like this, but he tries to remember his plans and his desire to be a winner.

Vanellope sat up straight, looking happy and hopeful.

"Do you really think so?" she asked. "You'd really help me to become a racer?"

"Of course!" Swizzle replied, forcing a painful smile. "That's why we're making a deal right?"

Vanellope screamed and bounced with glee, her image flickering a couple of times. Then she straightened herself.

"Sorry, I got carried away!" she chuckled. "Anyway, here's what I'm thinking: you help me become a racer, I'll win you a race and get you a coin."

Swizzle raised an eyebrow and asked, "How are you planning to become one when you don't even have a kart?"

"Oh, I already have one!" she beamed, hopping off from her bed. "Why do you think I've been scavenging at the junkyard?"

She hurried to a corner and pushed a small vehicle covered with a tarp. She ripped off the tarp, revealing a pile of recycled junk, shaped into a pedal-kart.

"Here it is, the Likkity-Split, the ultimate driving machine!" She gestured at her pathetic-looking pedal-kart, looking so proud of herself.

Swizzle stared at her little vehicle, dumbfounded.

"You have GOT to be kidding me," he said. "You can't possibly win a race in that junk!"

"Hey, this 'junk' took me weeks to make!" Vanellope pouted. "I don't think I can actually win the race in this. But once I put in some adjustments, I MIGHT make it to the top nine roster at least."

"Uh, no, you don't get it." Swizzle shook his head as he went over and inspected her kart. "This is not really suitable for racing. It's not fast, and not durable… You might not even make it pass through Gumball Canyon. It will get smashed so easily!"

"Well, how about this then?" Vanellope said, placing her hands on her hips. "Why don't you help me get a better kart—a REAL kart—then I can help you?"

Swizzle thinks about it; he'd be breaking some rules to help a glitch. But once she wins him some coins, he can turn her in and King Candy will have her locked up and her new kart destroyed before the players can choose her. He'll be a racer again and earn back the respect he lost from others. However, Vanellope would never be free and achieve her dreams. He reassures himself that she'll be at least safe and protected from harm…

"Hey, do we have a deal or not?" Vanellope's voice broke his thoughts. She's holding out a hand for him to shake.

Swizzle reluctantly shook her hand. "You better win," he warned. Vanellope smiled and put the tarp back on her pedal-kart.

"Alright, let's hit the floursack," she said, heading back to her bed. "We got a long day ahead of us."

"Wait," Swizzle stopped her. "Where do I sleep?"

The next thing he knew, he was lying on the dirt floor of the cave, with an marshmallow for a pillow and a candy wrapper covering him.

"I'm seriously regretting this decision," he muttered.

"Hey, I know this place is a dump, but it's all I got," Vanellope argued from her bed. She untied the licorice that held up her hair. Swizzle noticed how pretty she is with her hair down.

"Well, can you at least scoot over, so we can share?"

"Nope!" She gave him a cheeky smile and rolled over, her back facing him. "Good night, Swizz-Cheese!"

Swizzle grumbled and rolled over on his side as well. "Good night, Vanellope."

"… Thank you," Vanellope's voice was soft.

"For what?" he asked her.

"For saying my name."

Swizzle did not know what else to say. He closed his eyes and drifted off to an uncomfortable sleep, but his mind is plagued with thoughts and he wondered if he's doing the right thing or not.

Meanwhile, down in the lowest levels of the castle, King Candy approached a heavy door with a large combination buttons. He glanced back to make sure no one was watching and then pulled an old tissue paper which belonged to another game. It had a cheat code in it.

The king set to work on the lock, and the door clicked open. Tethering himself to a cord, he was about jump into the room when Sour Bill entered.

"Your Majesty," he spoke up.

King Candy jumped in the air and turned to his assistant, looking hopeful.

"Has Swizzle been captured yet?" he asked eagerly. "Did Duncan and Wynchell found him?"

"Swizzle Malarkey has escaped them, and they said he disappeared," Sour Bill replied.

"Well, they better keep looking!" King Candy told him impatiently. "Send out wanted posters and include a reward for information of his whereabouts! And get some officers to guard the exit to Game Central Station! We can't let Swizzle continue to run free, because I got some INTERESTING questions I want to ask him. But for now… I got something to investigate."

Sour Bill nodded and left the king.

((I wonder what King Candy is up to. Too bad Swizzle isn't Vanellope's friend yet, and is planning to betray her... OR WOULD WILL HE?))