A Different Kind of Different

by 123 New Days

When Vanellope woke up, she could only remember her name. However, as time passes, she learns about new things like carts, racing, and flashes. Vanellope knows that she needs to get a cart of her own so she can ease the burning desire in her code. She also knows that she's willing to do anything to reach this goal. Takes place before the movie.

5. The Fight for the Flash

This is probably one of the longest chapters I've ever written in my life, so I hope you enjoy it. Here's a little word of warning though: it starts out happy, but at the end, prepare for maybe some tears. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it. Please read and review. Something weird happened with the previous chapter and didn't allow it to come up to the top of the updated list of Wreck it Ralph stories, if that makes sense to you guys. But anyway, hopefully that won't happen with this chapter. Once again, please enjoy Chapter 5!

I don't own Wreck it Ralph. Now on with the show!

Chapter 5: The Fight for the Flash

The bakery was going to be such a crucial part of Vanellope's life that she remembered exactly where she'd seen it that morning and never strayed from that path. The fact that the building was tall enough to be seen for miles around helped her stay straight as well. She kept her eyes on the building at all time. It's green walls and puffs of multi-colored smoke pouring out of the smoke stacks seemed to be calling to her. "Come to us," they whispered, entrancing her with their bright colors and promises of a better future. Vanellope had no problem with obeying; she had no reason to doubt that by getting a cart her life would be changed for the better. "It most certainly couldn't make it worse," she thought to herself. "And really, my day's been crummy enough already. It doesn't need to be worse."

Finally the moment arrived: Vanellope made it to the bakery. She could see it standing tall above her, and after craning her neck to gaze up in awe, she turned her attention to figuring out how to get inside.

She soon got her answer. Approximately five feet away, she could see a little gingerbread hut. A bright red cherry rested on the roof, and the words, "KART BAKERY" were painted on the front in pink. The candy-cane traffic gate beside the hut was enough to make Vanellope realize that the hut was actually a toll booth of sorts. And inside, she could vaguely see the outline of a person.

"Toilet crepes!" she cursed, ducking behind a mound of land to avoid being seen. Her breathing rate increased, resulting in what looked and sounded like panting. Vanellope's face blanched, and she waited, sure that any moment now, someone would come from around the mound, find her, and take her away. She would have run away, but she didn't have the strength. She was tired from all of the walking she'd done, and the amount of stress she'd put on her burnt leg was making it achy and sore again.

A moment passed, and soon that turned into minutes of absolutely nothing happening. Confused, Vanellope snuck a peek around the mound. Yes, there was definitely somebody in the booth. But he or she wasn't doing anything. In fact, the form looked completely still. The only movement was coming from little blobs that were floating around in the air above him or her.

Vanellope sensed that she was safe, but to end the confusion, she crept up to the booth to see what was going on, lying low until she was right by the structure. Stretching up on her tip-toes, she peeked inside, only to find that the figure, whom she assumed was Beard Papa was sound asleep! The little blobs flying around his head were actually Z's! His feet were propped up on the table his computers were set up on, and to make the whole scenario even funnier, he was snoring!

Biting back a snort of laughter, Vanellope gave Beard Papa a mocking wave goodbye, knowing well that he wouldn't see it. Then she crept around the front of the toll booth, and dashed underneath the toll gate, being small enough that she didn't even need to duck. Then, the humour giving her a boost of energy, she dashed down the road towards the bakery.

When she finally arrived at the door that would bring her inside, she was delighted to see that above a little sign that said, "Baking in progress when light is ON!" the light mentioned was not glowing. That meant nobody was inside, which meant she was safe to work alone, without any interruptions. Excited, she turned her attention to the door. But as soon as she saw it, her grin fell from her face and was replaced with an annoyed scowl. "Oh, that's mature."

It was a nice enough door, with a solid gold doorknob and lock, which thankfully was open. But in the very middle of the door, big enough that it was impossible to notice, was a picture. It was undoubtedly Vanellope's face, as it had her signature ponytail with the candy pieces stuck inside. But the way it had been painted made her look like some sort of goblin or demon. Her skin was a peppermint green, her irises were a combination of pink and red, and her lips were twisted in some kind of demented smile. Her thick, bushy eyebrows had been painted in slanted directions, making her eyes look angry and mean. The entire thing was painted inside a circle, with a large pink line slashed through it. Underneath, in the same pink colour, were the words, "NO GLITCHES."

Vanellope's eyes narrowed a little bit more, but then she relaxed her face, reaching for the doorknob and opening the door as if she hadn't even seen the message. "If they're going to make pictures like that, one would think they would try to make them accurate. They didn't even get my nose right."

The bakery was nothing like she'd expected it to be when she first walked in. For one thing, it was dark. For another thing, it was very small. The circular room she entered was surrounded on all sides by curtains instead of walls. In the very center, lying on the floor and giving off the only light, was a big, red button. Spying it, Vanellope hobbled towards it and climbed on top.

An electronic chime rang through the air and instantly the room brightened as though a switch had been activated. Suddenly Vanellope could see what was on the curtains. All around her, the words, "SELECT YOUR KART" shone, each letter a different color of the rainbow. Underneath each of the phrases was a different color square, and as Vanellope inspected each one, she realized they were all of the different styles of cart she could choose to make. "Cool!" She carefully inspected each one before half limping and half running towards the square that displayed a cart in the shape of an ice-cream cone. Another electronic sound was heard when she touched the button, and instantly afterwards, the curtain it was stuck on was drawn up and Vanellope saw the REAL bakery.

It was ENORMOUS! As more lights were switched on, Vanellope felt her jaw drop to the ground at the strange machines in front of her, and as she headed towards the first one, she heard an animated voice cry out, "Welcome to the bakery! Let's bake a cart!"

She started out walking slowly, but soon after the first two sentences, the voice cried out, "You have one minute to win it!"

"Huh?" Her heart beginning to race, Vanellope glanced around, and her eyes happened to land on a digital clock. Sure enough, she could see 1:00 as clear as day on the timer.

"Oh man," she muttered, but just as she said that, the automatic voice cried out, "Go!" and she squealed, dropping her leggings to the floor and trying to pick up the pace as she reached the first machine.

Two tubes fell down towards a wheel with a large arrow almost like a clock hand attached in the center. On one side of the arrow was the word 'YUM,' whereas on the other side, the word, 'YUCK' was displayed. There was a bowl and a garbage can by each side of the wheel, coordinating with the painted words. In front of the whole contraption was a steering wheel.

"What am I supposed to do?" Vanellope wondered, but just as she finished thinking the words, the animated voice was answering the question. "Mixing! Put the ingredients in the bowl and throw away the trash!" Immediately afterwards, an assortment of stuff began pouring out of the tubes, bouncing off the wheel, and landing in the can and bowl.

"Yikes!" Grabbing the wheel, Vanellope began turning it rapidly from side to side. But because she was inexperienced with both the game and with how to use a steering wheel, things became mixed up very quickly. She saw cartons of eggs, bags of flour, and milk jugs pouring into the garbage can. On the other side, random things like fire hydrants, actual garbage like fish bones and old cans, and even underwear were spilling into the mixing bowl. She got one or two correct things in both containers, but for the most part, she didn't feel all that successful. But she pushed on, feeling like she couldn't give up. There was undoubtedly more to come.

Sure enough, eventually things stopped coming out of the tubes, and the bowl was pushed along a conveyor belt. Vanellope heard the words, "Batter up!" and watched as two beaters came down from the ceiling and mixed the ingredients in the bowl into a gooey batter. The batter was then poured sloppily into a baking tray and slid into a gigantic oven.

"Baking!" the voice declared next. "Pump up the heat and hold the perfect temperature!"

Limping as fast as she could, Vanellope came to a large pump that reminded her of something one would use on tires. Climbing carefully on top of it so as not to bump or scrape her leg, she then tried bouncing up and down on it, keeping a close eye on the oven. Off to the side, she could see a pressure gauge shaped like a thermometer. At the bottom she could read, "Too Cold," and at the top, she could read, "Too Hot." It didn't take a genius to figure out that she needed to reach the middle, where the words spelled out, "Just Right!"

Wishing she had her full strength in both legs, Vanellope bounced up and down, watching as the heat in the oven went up and down over and over again. This was the part in the game that was going to give her the most trouble, she could feel it.

Just when she thought maybe she was getting close, a buzzer sounded, and the male's voice cried out, "Uh oh! Out of time! Try again!" Then, everything shut down, including the lights.

Groaning in frustration, Vanellope climbed off of the pump and headed back to the curtained area. "Maybe it'll be easier if I try a different model," she thought to herself. So instead of choosing the same one again, this time she selected the model inside the green square. Again, everything lit up, and the programmed voice began his speel all over again. This time, Vanellope didn't really listen. She already knew what she had to do. And this time, she again ran out of time.

So on it went. Vanellope would select a cart style and dash over to the mixing station, where she somewhat improved each time, but not enough to say she was really good at the job. It was always good enough to be brought to the oven though, and that was always where Vanellope got stuck and ran out of time. It almost made her regret causing the explosion in Diet Cola Mountain.

What felt to her like hours passed, and though she got tired and frustrated and the pain in her leg became almost unbearable, she didn't stop going back and forth. Vanellope quickly lost count of how many times she repeated the actions, but she could feel she was getting closer to passing the obstacle in her path.

After making it to the oven yet again, she practically leapt on top of the pump and began jumping and stomping as hard as she could, desperately praying that it would go down and stay down. "Come on, come on!" she found herself crying out loud. From all of the frustration and exertion, flashing began to occur, which made her start to panic. "No! Not now!" But thankfully, the flashing did nothing to affect her performance.

In the future, if she were to look back on what happened next, Vanellope still wouldn't be able to explain what happened next, and she would never experience it again. A flash occurred throughout her body, and once again, Vanellope lost her ability to see anything in front of her except for the blue and the numbers. She could hear the crackling, warped sounds of her body being deconstructed and feel the pins-and-needles sensation. But it all lasted too long. Normally when she flashed, it only lasted two or three seconds. This time, the sensation continued for ten complete seconds before it ended.

"Huh?" Feeling frazzled and unable to think clearly, Vanellope glanced down at her feet and started. "What?" Hazel eyes widening, her head jerked up, her gaze resting on the thermometer. If her eyes had bulged out anymore, they could have popped right out of her skull.

The pump was bent under her feet at just the right amount to have the red color inside the thermometer filling up exactly half of the instrument. The top of the color rested directly on the line where it was supposed to be. A dinging sound like a bell was made, and Vanellope knew that she had done it. She had passed the second challenge.

"YES!" she cheered, leaping off of the pump recklessly, not even caring when pain shot up her burnt leg as she landed hard on her feet. She was too busy watching as the frame of her cart came out of the oven and headed towards the final stage on a conveyor belt. It was the decorating stage.

Having only fifteen seconds left to get used to this section, Vanellope dashed over to what looked like an enormous gun or cannon set several feet away from the conveyor belt. Above the moving belt were large glass tubes filled with candy to be used for wheels, icing, and different kinds of candy for decorations, specifically in that order. A swirled pink and purple target sat on each tube with a crown in the very middle. Quickly setting to work, Vanellope began firing for the gun. To make each shot accurate, she pictured the crowns on the targets were King Candy's face and aimed specifically for them, setting off the gun with as much power as she could give it. Four hard white pellets that smelled like mints flew out at a tube filled with black Oreo cookies to cause four beautiful wheels to come spilling out. Then Vanellope fired repeatedly at the icing tube filled with an icing that was the same color as her hoodie. Tonnes of the gooey substance oozed out, covering the entire cart structure, but Vanellope didn't care. "The more icing the better!" she proclaimed. Once she was satisfied with the thick coating, she hit random targets, watching as her cart was showered with an assortment of yummy treats, just like her hair. At first when she worked she tried jumping up and down, but that was too painful, so she settled for wiggling around like a gummy worm. She felt hyper, but she knew it wasn't just because of the sugar particles that were forever floating around in Sugar Rush's atmosphere. It was also because she was almost finished making a cart that could be forever known as hers'.

Finally the cart vanished into a tiny garage, where Vanellope couldn't see what was happening. She ignored the announcer when he said that time was up, but the next words he spoke she paid extra careful attention to. "Congragulations, you did it, and here's your cart!"

This was it. The moment she'd been waiting for. It came too quickly for her to prepare for, so all Vanellope could do was watch as the garage door opened, and in a jumble of candy and sprinkles, down a ramp slid the thing she'd worked so hard to get. Her very own cart. It was the most beautiful thing Vanellope had ever seen.

Shrieking with delight, she raced towards it, running all around her masterpiece to inspect it from every angle. Everything was perfect about it, from the randomness of where the decorations had been placed to the white Mento steering wheel that sat in front of the seat. The polished sour cherries that acted as her headlights beamed at her, and the entire thing smelled of mint and vanilla. There was even a strange rectangular piece in the back that Vanellope didn't know what to call made of hard white mint that was painted black on the top.

It was wonderful. It was magical. It was perfect. Except for one small detail.

"It needs a name," Vanellope declared to herself, dashing to a nearby workbench to grab a tube of black icing. It took a couple of minutes of name-creating for her to finally come up with the perfect one. It was something short, but something that would forever tie this cart to her. "The Flash." Fully satisfied and proud with her choice, Vanellope printed it in fancy cursive on the top of her kart's hood. "There. Now to learn how to drive this baby!"

But before she could leap inside and fire it up, a large sheet metal garage door with another bad painting of Vanellope's face on it flew up, revealing an entire army behind it. Large, thick gingerbread men wearing policemen outfits and holding dangerous looking clubs stood with the two donuts she'd seen earlier. And in front of them all, with a scowl on his face, was King Candy himself. He raced through the door, and his finger flew in Vanellope's direction as he cried out, "There she is!" When he saw the cart she'd successfully managed to bake, his face paled, and he started to quiver slightly. Vanellope didn't know why she didn't start moving immediately, but she found herself watching as he regained his composure, pointed at her again, and hollered, "SEIZE HER!" with more power and anger in his voice than Vanellope had ever heard. It was almost as though he was acting so angry because he wanted to hide some fear he had regarding her.

Vanellope had no idea what to do. She didn't want to leave her cart there in the bakery, but she had no idea how to drive it, and no time to learn. She tried giving it a shove from behind, but quickly gave up, as it was too big and heavy, and again, she had no time.

She reacted one second too slow, and that one second gave the donut police enough time to throw a lasso made of red liquorice around her body. It settled there, and Vanellope began struggling to escape almost instantaneously. But it was wrapped around her body too tightly, so instead of throwing it off, she did the next best thing. In one swift motion, she bent her head down and gave the rope one vicious bite. It immediately fell apart, startling the policemen and King Candy. That gave Vanellope just enough time to move, so she did what she wanted to do the least: she left her masterpiece of a cart sitting there in the bakery and took off towards the door she'd entered through, her hand swooping down to scoop up her leggings from off the floor as she passed them.

Thankfully King Candy hadn't positioned guards in front of the other door, so Vanellope managed to get out. There was no way she'd be able to get away by limping, so she ran as hard as she could, panic, fear, and recklessness controlling her actions. She wasn't moving as quickly as she normally would have been able to, but her flashing helped keep her two steps ahead of the swarm behind her. Her leg screamed at her as she ran, but at that moment she really didn't care. She had no intention of slowing.

Vanellope had no idea where to run to. The first place she considered was Diet Cola Mountain, but she quickly threw away the idea. The guards and policemen were close enough behind her that they would be able to see her dash through the secret opening if she went that way, and that was something she wanted to keep secret. So she headed in the opposite direction, eventually finding herself in a forest made up of candy canes.

The pink ground beneath her feet tossed up clouds of pink dust wherever her feet fell, and Vanellope was forced to slow down just a little so she could avoid the pools of taffy around her. The last thing she wanted was to get stuck. That would ultimately lead to her capture.

Suddenly another idea came to her. Using all of her strength, she bent her knees and sprung up, arms extended high above her head. When she reached the maximum height of her jump, her hands wrapped around a candy cane branch, and she scrambled to get on top. Then, once she was fully on the branch, she moved to get to the next highest branch. This was done multiple times before she got half-way up the tree.

Looking down below her, the cops were swarmed around the tree, looking up at her as though expecting her to jump down again. Wanting to do no such thing, Vanellope started jumping from tree branch to tree branch, still trying to get away. She paid close attention to the ground below her, not just to see where the policemen were at all times. She also wanted to make sure that the trees she threw herself into were not surrounded by taffy, just in case she was to fall.

Being so high above the ground made it more difficult for the policemen to see her, and soon Vanellope gained a little bit more distance from them. The stress slowly began to slip away, and soon she found herself wishing she could whoop and holler with joy as she flew through the trees. Occasionally she would find herself flashing on a branch or halfway through the air, but she always landed safely on another branch. Though the jumping and landing started out leaving her wobbling and struggling to stay on top when she landed, gradually she grew more comfortable with it.

She finally got close to the end of the forest and began running out of trees. Vanellope planned to jump to one last tree branch, and then jump down to the ground again. So she bent down again, focussed very hard on the pink and white double-striped branch she wanted to land on, and then launched herself towards it. The jump was successful, and she landed safely on the other branch, letting out a soft, but triumphant, "Yes!" as she did so. She planned on taking a quick break to catch her breath before beginning the descent to the ground.

But then the tree branch disappeared from underneath her feet.

A second too late she squealed and tried to grab the branch above her. But she was already falling to the ground, with nothing but tree branches to slow her fall. Each branch she crashed into broke off of the tree, and though she tried to stop herself, it simply was not in the cards for her. Screaming, grunting, and receiving even more bruises and scrapes, she tumbled to the ground with a loud, "Oof!"

"There she is!" she heard one of the donut policemen cry out. Her panic returned, and she jumped up to grab one of the remaining branches on the tree she'd just fallen from. But the double striped branch vanished just as her fingers grazed the bark, and she landed on the dirt again. "Note to self," she muttered as she picked herself up and began tearing out of the forest. "Double stripes break."

Finally out of the forest, Vanellope frantically jerked her head around, trying to find somewhere she could go. Nowhere she looked seemed as though it could provide the level of security and protection she needed until her gaze fell on a tunnel.

Right in front of her was a glittery rainbow road that stretched beneath a goodbye sign in the shape of an arch, and then up a very steep hill. At the very top, she could see a tunnel. She didn't know where it led to, or how safe it was, but at that moment, Vanellope didn't care. That was where she wanted to go.

This hill was easier to climb than the one in the junkyard had been, as the ground was solid and unable to slip beneath her feet. With the army right behind her again, Vanellope climbed and climbed, praying that she would reach the top before any of them caught up with her.

Then finally, the miracle! She reached the top and could see the dark tunnel ahead of her. Vanellope still had no idea where it led to, but she knew that she would be safe if she could get there. So without a moment's hesitation, she ran towards the entrance.

And right into what felt like a wall.

The hard smack made her entire body scream, and as she was thrown back, Vanellope felt her blood run cold. What was happening? Shaking herself, she ran towards it again. Again she was thrown back by an invisible force, but this time she noticed the wall contouring and bending along with her movements. All around where she touched it flashed a vicious blue and white glowing light. It looked like if she was trying to walk through plastic, but felt as though she was walking into a cement wall.

"No!" she screamed, beating on the wall with her fists and watching as every punch created the glowing white light. "No, this can't be happening! Let me out! Please, let me out!" She felt like somebody was playing a cruel, sick joke on her. Her body flickered and flashed with code as she kicked and punched, charged up on her distraught nature. She was so close to safety, and yet so far away. It was a fight she couldn't win, but still she fought. She needed to be safe.

Just as she was about to lay another round of punches and kicks on the wall, she heard someone order, "Freeze!" Her throat felt like it was closing in on her as she turned to find herself surrounded. There was no where to go. Even if she managed to flash, they were too close. They would have her in a matter of seconds. The fight was over, and Vanellope had lost.

Feeling weak, sore, and finally, hopeless, she hung her head and tried not to cry. But she could feel the tears from her helplessness beginning to seep out of the corners of her eyes, and for the first time, she let them fall willingly. But she cried silently, not allowing herself to give the policemen the joy of watching her sob. There was no begging, and no pleading. She would show them she could be strong, even as a loser.

A familiar song began playing in front of her, and before Vanellope could remember where she'd heard it before, she got her answer. The army parted on both sides to allow a white cart with three horns, a crown emblem, and a flag flying on the back to drive to the front of the crowd. And in that cart was King Candy, along with Sour Bill hidden behind the royal.

King Candy didn't say a word as he stopped his cart and slipped out, closing the door beside him. He didn't speak as he approached Vanellope, eyeing her disdainfully as she kept her eyes glued to the ground beneath her feet. When she finally did get the strength to look at his face, she saw him looking at her as though he wanted to say, "Didn't you realize that you can never win?" Her throat continued to close in on her, and she struggled to swallow the forming lump, looking down yet again. She didn't want to see him looking at her any longer.

"Sour Bill, remind me to thank that Taffyta girl for tipping me off that the glitch was heading to the bakery," she heard the king command, and hearing Taffyta's name made her clench her fists in anger. So that was how they'd all known she was in the bakery. She'd been sold out by a rat.

Anger began seeping its way back inside of her, and Vanellope got the courage to lift her eyes up ever so slightly to see what King Candy was going to do. He was still staring at her, taking in her dirty, injured body, and unfortunately, his eyes happened to meet hers. Vanellope glared at him silently, mutely challenging him. He now knew that she had been serious when she'd made her threat towards him.

But instead of looking intimidated by her hatred-filled glare, King Candy actually cracked a smile at her, as though he found her funny for some sick reason. Still smiling, he turned to the two donuts and motioned as if he wanted them to do something.

The blast from the taser came unexpectedly and left Vanellope unconscious for a span of time. She didn't know the length of it, but when she came to again, she found herself still surrounded by the army. They were in a large circle around her, but they were all no longer by the tunnel. Instead, they were back inside the bakery.

Confused and looking around, Vanellope tried to stand up, but the sound of something rattling startled her and she found herself unable to do so. Looking down at herself, she discovered her entire body was wrapped in solid metal chains, including one around her waist. All of the chains tied her to a chair, and the terrifying sight made her flash. She thought flashing would allow her to escape like it had so many times before. But the chains never left her, and that didn't leave her feeling panicked. Instead she felt pure, genuine terror. The entire situation seemed ominous and sinister.

Just as she was thinking this, her eyes caught sight of something green in front of her. It was her cart! It looked just as it had when she'd first built it. It would have lifted her spirits had King Candy not been standing right beside it, casually leaning with one hand on the hood.

"Get your filthy paws off of my cart," she snarled, leaning forward and bearing her teeth at King Candy like some sort of animal. That cart was her baby, the most precious, perfect thing in her life, and she refused to let it get tainted by the touch of the horrible king.

But King Candy ignored her, instead pressing down harder, leaving a handprint imbedded in the icing and messing up the handwritten name on top. "It is a rather impressive cart, considering it was made by a glitch," he commented, once again ignoring her mangled cry as she watched him deface her cart. "But see, that's the problem with it. It was made by a glitch. And I already told you Vanellope, that glitches are not allowed to race. But you chose to disobey me. And as your king, I think it only fair that you be punished for disobeying my rules and I."

A chill ran down Vanellope's spine, and she got the horrible feeling that she was going to get more than just a light smack on the wrist as her punishment. But she kept her lips locked tightly shut, refusing to beg and plead. She could get through anything he did to her, and she was prepared to face anything he threw her way.

King Candy looked at the guards surrounding Vanellope and pointed to her cart with one hand, and something behind him. Looking up, Vanellope recognized it as the oven from the baking stage of building that she'd had such a difficult time with. Then, to her horror, she heard him give two words as a command:

"Burn it."

"What? No!" Vanellope screamed, unable to keep her mouth shut any longer. She couldn't handle him doing anything to her precious cart, the one she'd worked so hard to build. She had poured all of her heart, soul, and courage into building The Flash, and she would not watch all of that get destroyed. But even as she screamed and fought to break lose of the chains that kept her tied to the chair, she was forced to watch as everybody ignored her and set to work.

A group of policemen pushed the cart onto the conveyor belt and another guard pressed a button to get the conveyor belt moving. The cart slid down the conveyor belt and up into the oven, which stood looming above Vanellope as though it was taunting her. "No! No!" she continued to scream. But she was suddenly silenced when one of the policemen donuts came up to her, ordered, "Quiet you!" and smacked her across the face with his club.

Vanellope gasped as her head swung hard to one side, and for a moment, she saw stars. But she quickly shook them away and watched as King Candy ordered, "Duncan! Leave her. I'll take care of her." The coldness behind his words left Vanellope in her horrified state yet again.

The policeman obeyed, and King Candy approached Vanellope as the policemen continued getting the cart ready for its incineration. His eyes were on her, so he could see every tear that she was now allowing to streak her flushed pink cheeks. He was close enough that he could hear her whispered plea. "Please. Don't do this. Please."

But to her dismay, the king simply shook his head at her. "I warned you," he said, without a hint of guilt in his tone. Then, he turned around, looked at the policemen, and gave them one wordless nod. The policemen all nodded, and then, without a moment's hesitation, threw a gigantic jawbreaker on top of the game's pump. The weight of the candy caused the pump handle to fall down and stay down permanently, keeping the oven on maximum heat.

"NOOO!" Vanellope screamed, watching as the thermometer sprang to the Too High mark and the oven flashed with bright orange light. Soon flames began appearing, licking at her gorgeous creation and soon swallowing it whole. And still Vanellope continued to scream, the tears now pouring relentlessly down her cheeks. She didn't care if she was begging and pleading. She was willing to do anything to save her first cart. But it didn't matter what she did. No one was listening to her.

Screaming and choking on sobs, Vanellope finally turned her head and shut her eyes, wishing she could plug her ears to block out the sound of the flames devouring her cart. She only had her head like that for a moment before she felt it being wrenched back in the forward direction and her eyelids peeled up. The tight grip never lessened, and as she was forced to watch what was in front of her, she heard King Candy's cool voice in her ear, making her wish she could block out all sound all the more. "I told you that you needed to be punished."

Hearing his voice so close to her made her start screaming all over again even louder than before and her fear turned into hysteria. "NO, PLEASE, NO! I'LL DO ANYTHING, PLEASE, STOP IT, STOP IT!" she shrieked, but it was too late to stop what was happening. Nobody heard the words anyway, as right at that moment the gas tank and engine inside the cart's structure blew up in a giant fireball. It was too late to stop the flames from turning her beautiful masterpiece into an ugly charred black mess. There would be no way to repair it; it was gone forever.

Everybody stood watching the fire continue to rage, and time seemed to go agonizingly slowly for Vanellope, whose screaming never ceased. She just wanted it to be over, she wanted it to stop, but it just kept going. And as her cart slowly died, Vanellope slowly died on the inside. She felt herself wishing she could be in the oven with her cart, for without a cart and without being able to race, she felt she had no purpose in life.

Finally King Candy gave another nod to the guards and they removed the jawbreaker. The fire stopped blazing, and the torment was over. But Vanellope's heart would never be the same. She felt as if a huge hole had been ripped in her code, and she felt a pain even greater then the second degree burn on her leg or the bruise from being hit with the club. King Candy's grip on her head disappeared, and she was allowed to turn her head. She no longer tried to fight and release herself. Instead, she sunk down in the chair, panting heavily and sobbing, though no more screams made their way past her lips. She made no effort to look in the direction of the oven again, not wanting to see the ashes that had once been her cart.

"Put her in the fungeon," she heard King Candy order, and for once, she made no effort to fight as the guards grabbed her chained up chair and pushed her away. She just continued to cry, wishing she could erase the horrific image that had been forever burned into her mind.

And for once, instead of plotting and planning what she would do next, she allowed herself to think, "It's over. It's all over."

A.N. Gosh...what have I done guys? Like I said, I'm sorry it's so sad. But I hope you liked this chapter. Please remember to review if you'd like to let me know what you think. I appreciate all feedback except for flames. I hope I haven't hurt your hearts too badly...Until next time, stay sweet and try not to cry! Things will get better eventually. :D Thanks again guys!