((Here's the newest chapter, with Swizzle's betrayal that will break both his and Vanellope's hearts.))
Chapter 19
Swizzle drove all around Sugar Rush, looking for Vanellope. She was not in her Diet Cola Mountain, nor in his secret racing track, so he was now driving toward the junkyard. He had told Taffyta and the other racers that as soon he can find out where Vanellope is keeping her kart, he will let them know and lead them to it so they can...
His hands gripped tight on the stirring wheel. He tried to shake off the feeling, but it was eating him from the inside and it was making feel sick. He did not want to do this to Vanellope, not after all those times they spent together. Yet, he did not want her to die. A small part of him regretted helping her make her go-kart, yet he was glad that he found someone who likes him and doesn't think he's a loser. Would he actually go through this? Destroy her only chance of happiness ruin their friendship?
He did not have time to dwell further in his thoughts since he's approaching the junkyard and finally spotted Vanellope with her kart. He stopped for a bit and then takes out a red bubblegum balloon that hasn't been inflated yet. After chewing it and blowing it, he releases the balloon into the air before he starts up the engine.
The red balloon floated up into the air and exploded, but Taffyta and the other racers can see it from the distance.
"There's the signal, Malarkey has found the glitch," she told the racers as they crowded together by their karts.
Taffyta smiled evilly and then slides into her kart. "Now, let's go."
Vanellope had her kart's hood open, and was busy checking and adding final adjustments to get ready for the big race tomorrow. Suddenly, she heard the familiar rumbling of a certain kart coming. She smiled and sighed with great relief as the Tongue Twister skidded to a halt.
Swizzle hopped out of his kart with an empty expressions, walking over to Vanellope.
"I knew you'd get away!" she skipped forward and hugged him tight."I really thought they'd put you in the Fungeon or something! Hey... you okay?"
"Huh? I'm okay, nothing's wrong." Swizzle forced a smile, but his heart was beating fast. "Listen, can we talk...?"
Vanellope interrupted him because she was chattering away and glitching around excitedly like a deranged hummingbird, blocking any attempt for Swizzle to speak.
"I'm finally in the race! Can you believe it, Swizzle?!" she exclaimed. "All my life, I've been dreaming of this but I never thought it could came true! I know goofed up in my entrance and destroyed the finish line, but I'm sure it'll get fixed up in no time... Plus, I loved what you did to Taffyta back there! I mean, whoa! I promise not to get on your bad side." She laughed, but her smile then dropped. She looked at him with nervous eyes. "Swizz... do you really think the gamers are going to like me?"
"Hey, if I like you, then the gamers are going to like you," Swizzle smiled. "They love an adorable winner."
"I'm an adorable winner!" Vanellope grinned and clasped her face. Her image finally stopped glitching, and she turned to him. "I'll be honest here, Swizz. I don't think there's a slight chance that I might actually win the race..."
Swizzle looked at her. "You don't?"
"I wouldn't mind coming even to last place, as long I get to cross the finish line," she said, rubbing her arm. "Because it's not really the awards I want to win for, but the joy and fun of being a racer. You get what I'm saying, right?"
Swizzle placed his hands on his pockets, looking away from her. He never thought about racing just for the fun of it because all his life, he believed winning is what only matters in this game. He now realized what he's actually missing and why he had suffer so much bad luck before. He never fully understood and enjoyed what he loved doing, and he finally understood the philosophy he had in his old bedroom: Live your life fast to your last breath!
"Besides, if I'm going to win tomorrow's race, I would do it for you," she added with a small smile.
Swizzle then remembered what he came here for, and he could feel his sides being eaten up again. "There's something we should talk," he spoke up.
"About what?" Vanellope asked without looking at him. She slammed the hood of her kart down before retrieving something from her seat.
"Vanellope, I'm afraid of been thinking..."
"A dangerous pastime," she giggled.
"I know," Swizzle smirked painfully. He sighed, trying to think of an easier way to tell. "Look, Vanny, I..."
"Wait! Close your eyes first," she demanded, she was holding something behind her back. Swizzle objected but then he did what she told him. "Now hold out your hands."
"Vanellope, if this is some kind of joke-"
"Shush!" she interrupted. Then she placed something in his hand. "Okay, open your eyes now."
Swizzle looked down to see a small, heart-shaped cookie. On it was a white frosting handwriting which read, "#1 Cavity-Butt". Swizzle felt a little insulted but Vanellope ordered him to turn it over. The other side is covered in light teal frosting with a blue handwriting which says, "To My Friend". The racer's heart melted.
"I made it for you," Vanellope said shyly. "It's not much, but I hope it's as good as a trophy... So, what were you going to tell me?"
Swizzle looked at her with a sad smile, feeling more awful about his betrayal. On cue, Taffyta and the other racers came zooming in and circling around the junkyard before skidding to a stop. Swizzle's heart dropped in fear but Vanellope greeted with a friendly smile.
"Hello, fellow racers!" she said as they circled around her and Swizzle. "You're all looking well, especially you, Taffyta," Vanellope added with a smirk. Taffyta rolled her bored eyes. "Come to check out the competition, huh? Well, here it is: The Whipper Snapper, the ultimate driving machine!"
Then she and a few other racers came closer to get a good look at Vanellope's kart. Taffyta's nose scrunched with disgust when she touched it.
"Well... I have to say I'm impressed that you got a nice ride here," she said sarcastically. "Too bad you can't drive it."
"What are you talking about, it's running well," Vanellope asked, a little surprised. "It was made with the best engine and wheels."
Taffyta crossed her arms, her icy blue eyes glaring at her. "You know the rules, Vanellope, you have to back out of the race. We don't need glitches to ruin our 15th anniversary event."
"I'm not a glitch, Taffyta," Vanellope shook her head. "Besides, I already registered myself on the board, so I'm definitely racing! Right, Swizzle? ... Swizz?" She turned to see him backing away from her. "Swizzle, come on! Tell these guys that I'm racing tomorrow."
Swizzle sighed and rubbed his neck. "Look, it was really nice baking the kart and teaching you how to drive, but racing isn't everything..."
"Ha ha, very funny!" Vanellope snorted. "What's up with you, Swizzle? I mean, did you get hit in the head and got amnesia or something?"
"Look, Vanellope, you can't be a racer!" Swizzle finally blurted out. He saw Vanellope's smile dropped and her body glitched.
"I-I don't understand," she stuttered sadly. "W-why would you say that?"
Taffyta came over to Swizzle and snatched the heart cookie from his hands. She reads the handwriting out loud, "To My Friend... Aww, does the glitch like The Swizz?"
A couple of the racers snickered but Vanellope was trying to grab for the cookie she made for Swizzle.
"Give it back, Taffyta!" she pleaded. "I made it! It's precious to me!"
Taffyta casually pushes Vanellope away and turns the cookie in her hands. "Do you actually think someone like Malarkey would actually be friends with someone who g-g-g-g-glitches!" At this, she cruelly imitated Vanellope's glitch and snapped the cookie in half.
"Hey!" Vanellope cried. Even Swizzle gasped, but he didn't say anything.
"You will never be a racer because you're a glitch, and that's all you ever be!" Taffyta smirked, throwing the broken heart cookie at Vanellope.
The other racers laughed and they removed something from their karts, each carrying a long, thick-looking object. Vanellope immediately knew what they're going to do.
"Wait, what are you doing? N-no no no... wait! Guys, please! No, don't!" she begged, tears forming in her eyes. Nobody listened to her.
"Don't break it too hard, I want her engine," Taffyta told them cheerfully.
Then they turned to the Whipper Snapper with their weapons raised. Swizzle helplessly watched from the side as they start smashing up Vanellope's kart they made together, destroyed slowly by the people he once considered as his friends...
"Stop it! No! I just want to race like you!" Vanellope cried, running to protect her kart but she was stopped by Swizzle. "Let me go, Swizz! They're breaking my kart!"
"Vanellope, I told you, you can't be a racer!" Swizzle pulled her to face him.
Vanellope then finally realized what's going on. "You sold me out...?"
"It's not what you think," Swizzle tried to explain but Vanellope shoved him away, her eyes wet with angry and sad tears.
"You... YOU'RE A RAT!" she screamed. "I'm going to that race, and I'm going to win on my own! I don't need you!"
"Listen to me, Vanellope!" Swizzle begged, holding onto to her arm, "if the gamers see you glitching, they'll think our game is broken! And they'll get it unplugged and you'll die! Just listen...!"
"I DON'T CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO ME! YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"
She angrily suckers Swizzle right in the face, making him release her. Then she manages to push aside a couple of racers away from her kart (which hadn't been fully destroyed, thankfully) and quickly hops into the seat. She slams the pedals and her kart pushes forward, while a few racers jumped out of the way to avoid her path. Then the Whipper Snapper was zooming away from sight, leaving behind dust clouds.
"Get her! She can't escape from us!" Taffyta snarled. The racers stopped when they saw Swizzle blocking them to reach their karts. "Out of the way, Malarkey!"
"No! I... I'm not doing this anymore!" Swizzle said. "I was an idiot for listening to King Candy and you guys! I won't let you destroy Vanellope's kart!"
Taffyta's blue eyes formed into deadly slits. "Whether you help us destroy the glitch's kart or not, you're still going to be thrown into the Fungeon for helping her baking it in the first place!"
"... What?"
Taffyta didn't reply and she pushed him into the chocolate mud. Swizzle looked up to see the racers hopping into their karts and then sped off to chase after Vanellope. Before he can follow them, he hurried to pick up the broken heart cookie Vanellope made for him, and he could feel his tears sting his eyes. He couldn't believe he broke Vanellope's heart like that, he just wanted to save her life...
Vanellope's kart zipped across the sugary land, she was sobbing her poor heart out. She wants to drive away, far away from the kingdom and away from everyone else... including Swizzle. She couldn't understand why he betrayed her after all the times they spent together. She though he was her friend, but now she can see he's a selfish jerkbreaker after all...
She dwasn't paying attention to where she was going and found herself speeding through Cereal Box Canyon, where milk rivers and waterfalls are healthy, delicious and fresh for a long time; various breakfast cereals can be smelled from inside the mountainous boxes or floating down the river. Then she heard the roaring engines of vehicles approaching. She wiped her tears and looked back to see not only Taffyta and the other racers chasing her, but as well as the Sugar Rush donut police force, including Duncan and Wynchell, who came out nowhere and pulled along side with the racers' karts.
"Stop right now, glitch, in the name of the king!" Duncan ordered.
Vanellope hit the pedals and her kart rocketed forward. The Whipper Snapper zoomed into a narrow ravine followed by the racers and the police. She tried to swerve carefully through different turns but her kart kept slamming against the giant cardboard boxes. Froot Loops wheels, Cocoa Puffs and honey Cheerios burst out from the top lids of the boxes and began raining down on half the racers and the police. They screamed terror before they got covered in grainy cereal landslide. Only Taffyta, Candlehead, Rancis, Minty, Gloyd, and Wynchell were left.
"If only I had some kind of Sweet Seeker, I'd take her out!" Taffyta muttered venomously under her breath.
Meanwhile, Swizzle's kart came zooming up into the ravine of Cereal Box Canyon, trying to find Vanellope or the racers. He saw a huge landslide up ahead and stopped. He then found another path which lead to a track moving along on top of the boxes, and he can see everything before him. He saw the Whipper Snapper zipping out of the ravine and is now speeding along the edge of the track over a deep ravine. One false move, and the driver can easily slid off the tracks and fall into the with a rapid Milky Way river flowing far below.
Swizzle then saw Taffyta and the others coming out and he quickly hit the accelerator harder.
"Vanellope, I'm coming!" he yelled.
Vanellope's kart zipped up the climbing, twisting track, trying to avoid driving near the edge of the ravine. She drove over a cheery oat wheel lying in the middle of the path. Her kart began spinning out of control and she began to glitch crazily.
She screamed as her kart crashed against the guardrail, flying off the track-and then she and her go-kart fell into the ravine. The last thing she remembered before she plunged to her milky death was Swizzle's face...
"VANELLOPE!" Swizzle screamed as he skidded his kart to the spot where Vanellope's kart flew off. He looked down at the river at the bottom of the ravine, but neither Vanellope nor her kart was in sight.
Swizzle could feel his heart shattering like glass, and his body began to shake uncontrollably. He couldn't believe this happened; not only he betrayed Vanellope and ruined their friendship, but he lost her... and he never got to apologize to her. He looks down at the broken heart-shaped cookie in his hands and remembered Vanellope telling him that she'd want to win the roster race for him. Now she's gone and this was all his fault.
He collapsed on his knees and let his burning tears stream down his face. He can hear the other vehicles driving up behind him. He turned sadly to them and whimpered, "N-now you won't h-have to worry about the g-glitch anymore..."
Taffyta and the other racers looked at each other with confused looks, though Minty and Gloyd seemed guilty for what they did. Wynchell came over to Swizzle and slapped handcuffs on the racer's wrists.
"You're under arrest, Swizzle Malarkey, for assisting the enemy of Sugar Rush," Wynchell said sternly The racer didn't care anymore and he allowed the donut cop to take him away.
"Let's go home, guys," Taffyta said calmly. "We got a race tomorrow."
"Minty, you're coming?" Gloyd asked his fellow green-haired racer.
Minty was staring at the spot where Swizzle had been crying. She turned to him and gave him a small smile. "Yeah, I am," she replied. She slid into her Veloci-Wrapper and sighed sadly. She didn't even like the glitch, but seeing Swizzle weeping tears for Vanellope made her feel a little uncomfortable. The other reason why she wanted to destroy Vanellope's kart was because she felt jealous that Swizzle is so protective of a glitch, instead of a real racer like Minty.
She had always a tiny crush on Swizzle but she hid it from the others by hitting or teasing him, to keep her reputation as being the cool and clever racer on the tracks. Minty bitterly wished she was kinder to him...
Back at the castle, King Candy was pacing back and forth in the throne room. He wore a worried expression on his face and he appeared to be waiting for someone. The door flew open and Sour Bill walked into the throne room.
"Did they find her? Was her kart destroyed?" King Candy asked anxiously.
"Vanellope von Schweetz had an accident down at Cereal Box Canyon," Sour Bill told him. "She fell into the Milky Way river. Her body and kart wasn't recovered. The donut police arrested Swizzle and he was thrown into the Fungeon."
King Candy was silent. Suddenly he bounced into the air and he burst into happily giggles. "Oh, this is wonderful news, Sour Bill! This calls for a celebration! But first, I shall go visit poor Swizzle at the Fungeon. I didn't want to arrest him, but rules are rules."
King Candy left the throne room, followed by Sour Bill. They were making through Confectionery Hall when the candy-coated king stopped and looked up at the huge, lickable tapestry of the Sugar Rush racers (which was hidden behind the velvet curtains that Vanellope and Swizzle had seen earlier). His face went pale as though there's something frightening about the tapestry, but he cleared his throat calmly.
"Sour Bill, get this tapestry removed from my castle," he ordered. "It's hurting my eyes."
His assistant nodded and began to remove the colorful tapestry from the wall, and it fell to the floor sending old dust everywhere. King Candy coughed but he was smiling.
"Now that the glitch can't pester us anymore," he clasped his hands together, "we can continue with our 15th anniversary event tomorrow!It will be the best race Sugar Rush will ever see!"
It was an hour later when a strange-looking kart and its driver were ashore along the strawberry banks that lead to the Candy Cane Forest. The Milky Way river had taken her far away from Cereal Box Canyon and she appeared lifeless at first, glitching every once in a while. Then she shot upwards and started coughing for air.
Vanellope von Schweetz is alive.
((This is the longest, and most emotional chapter I ever wrote so far. I hope you enjoyed it! Fun fact: While I ship Vanellope/Swizzle in this fic, my OTP is actually Swizzle/Minty- even my rp blog tumblr mainly ships Mint Swirl. The reason why this fic is mainly Vanellope/Swizzle is because I wanna try something new while I still keep my favorite pairing.))