Chapter 8: Cy-Bug Invasion
Vanellope got up from where she fell to the ground, and she watched helplessly as Anton flew the escape pod into the Sugar Rush game portal. Just as he flew in, the other Sugar Rush racers and Cinndon ran out of the Hero's Duty game portal. Vanellope turned to face them.
"Guys, how did you get here so quickly?" Vanellope asked.
"Minty flew us out." Taffyta replied.
Vanellope nodded.
"Okay. Anyway, we need to get back to Sugar Rush and evacuate everyone." Vanellope said.
"Why?" Citrusella asked.
"Apparently, Candi did something to a couple of Cy-Bug eggs and is bringing them to Sugar Rush. I think that she modified them so they are like viruses again. If that is the case, then the game is in danger and we need to evacuate." Vanellope replied.
The Sugar Rush racers and Cinndon nodded in agreement.
"Okay then. Let's go." Sticky said.
Minty transformed into her Sakura form, and then she had her feet transform into two foot-equipped rocket thrusters. Once she did that, the other Sugar Rush racers and Cinndon held onto her, and Minty flew them into the Sugar Rush game portal.
In Sugar Rush, Anton flew the escape pod into the game and started looking for a place that he could place the Cy-Bug eggs. After flying for two minutes, he spotted the candy cane forest and got an idea. He landed the escape pod on a cliff, picked up the pile of Cy-Bug eggs, got out, and walked over to a taffy pond. He threw the Cy-Bug eggs into the taffy pond and watched as they disappeared. Anton nodded, glitched back to Candi, got back in the escape pod, started it back up, and flew away.
Meanwhile, the Sugar Rush racers and Cinndon flew into Sugar Rush. They made their way to the racetrack, where Timothy, Captain Kaiser, Ralph, Felix, and Tamora still were. Turbo and Candace weren't there because they hadn't returned from the castle yet.
"Guys! We need to evacuate the game!" Vanellope said upon arriving.
Timothy, Captain Kaiser, Ralph, Felix, and Tamora were confused.
"Why do we need to evacuate Sugar Rush?" Captain Kaiser asked.
"Candi escaped to Hero's Duty after breaking out of the fungeon. She modified a couple of Cy-Bugs so they are like viruses again, and she brought them into this game." Jubileena replied.
Tamora scowled.
"Well then, that's something we have to worry about. Since we don't know where the Cy-Bugs were placed and we don't have much time, we definitely need to evacuate now." Tamora said.
"How much time do you think we have?" Timothy asked.
As if to answer his question, a buzzing sound was heard, followed by an increasingly loud rumble from beneath the ground. Tamora cursed under her breath.
"We're too late." Tamora replied.
The Sugar Rush racers, Cinndon, Timothy, Captain Kaiser, Ralph, Felix, and Tamora formed a circle, and whoever had powers readied their abilities.
"Remember, everyone, kill any bug on site. They won't recognize any of you, since they're viruses again, so they'll attack you. And make sure you don't get eaten." Tamora warned.
The ground behind the group split open, and at least half a dozen red colored Cy-Bugs emerged from the gaping hole, their eyes red with menace. Captain Kaiser was the first one to attack them. He scooped up a nearby pebble and, with all of his strength, threw it at one of the Cy-Bugs. It emitted an enraged cry of pain, and it and it's companions closed in on the group, while more Cy-Bugs swarmed out of the hole and began spreading throughout Sugar Rush.
Meanwhile, Turbo and Candace left the castle and started making their way back to the racetrack.
"So, what do you think everyone else is doing right now?" Candace asked.
Turbo shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe they found Candi and are waiting for us to arrive." Turbo replied.
The two of them noticed the Cy-Bugs burst out of the ground in the distance and start to spread throughout Sugar Rush.
"What's going on over there?" Candace asked.
Turbo gasped.
"There's a Cy-Bug invasion, which is weird because they aren't viruses anymore. But that's not important right now. What's important is that this threat is taken care of. Candace, go find somewhere safe to hide." Turbo replied.
Candace shook her head.
"No, I want to help." Candace said.
Turbo shook his head.
"Candace, you'll be torn to shreds if you try and fight those things in the state that they are in. Get somewhere safe. Me and the others will take care of this." Turbo ordered.
Candace was about to argue, but then she took another look at the Cy-Bugs that were in the distance and sighed.
"Alright, fine." Candace said.
Candace then ran back to the castle and went inside. Meanwhile, Turbo transformed into his Turbug form and started flying towards the racetrack.
Back at the racetrack, the Sugar Rush racers, Cinndon, Ralph, and Tamora were fighting off the Cy-Bugs. Timothy, Captain Kaiser, and Felix had headed to the castle in order to get out of the fighting, since they didn't have anything that was useful in fighting the Cy-Bugs. The candy citizens had evacuated Sugar Rush and went into Game Central Station, and Tamora had destroyed the entrance to the game in order to prevent the red Cy-Bugs from spreading into the different games.
Crumbelina turned a Cy-Bug into a cookie statue and then turned to Tamora, who used her machine gun to destroy three huge Cy-Bugs that had jawbreaker armor.
"Tamora, there's too many of them. We need to get somewhere where we have a better chance of fighting them." Crumbelina called out.
Tamora nodded and turned to everyone else.
"Everyone, fall back to the castle!" Tamora shouted.
The Sugar Rush racers, Cinndon, Ralph, and Tamora started running away from the racetrack. Some of the Cy-Bugs tried to follow them, but Jubileena blew them up with a couple of cherry bombs before they could follow.
They made great progress, and they could see the castle a couple of yards away. But before they could progress any further, a huge swarm of Cy-Bugs appeared. The Sugar Rush racers, Cinndon, Ralph, and Tamora started fighting off the Cy-Bugs, but as they fought, Vanellope got separated from the others. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Ralph in the distance. The wrecker had tried to follow her in order to keep her safe, but he had to stop to fight off some of the Cy-Bugs, and the Sugar Rush racers and Cinndon were busy using their powers to fight the Cy-Bugs. She was on her own. A Cy-Bug charged at Vanellope, but she glitched out of the way and shot a blast of pixels at the Cy-Bug, destroying it. Another Cy-Bug flew down at her, but Vanellope glitched out of the way again and shot another blast of pixels that destroyed the second Cy-Bug.
A third Cy-Bug charged at Vanellope, who tried to hit it with blasts of pixels, but the Cy-Bug dodged the blasts of pixels and swung it's tail at her. Vanellope was thrown back onto the ground, causing a minor crater on impact. Her body hurt all over and she groaned in pain. She looked up, and her eyes widened at the sight of the Cy-Bug, which started making it's way towards her. Vanellope stood up and attempted to shoot a blast of pixels at him, but she was too tired to do so. She was breathless, speechless, and seemingly hopeless as the Cy-Bug crawled its way over to her. It's metallic legs tinkered and tapped at the hard chocolaty ground, causing Vanellope's heart to pound, and it's mouth opened wide as it finally approached her. It screeched and raised itself on it's hind legs, ready to make it's one and only fatal attack.
"OOOOH no you don't!" a familiar voice shouted.
The sound of massive buzzing wings echoed all around. Before Vanellope could look up, Turbo landed hard on the Cy-Bug with one of his sharp legs nailed through it's thorax, and the Cy-Bug immediately disintegrated into a mass of bits and pixels. Turbo then made his way over to Vanellope and gently picked her up.
"Are you okay, Vanellope?" Turbo asked.
Vanellope nodded.
"Yeah, I'm a little bruised up, but I'm fine." Vanellope replied.
By now, the Sugar Rush racers, Cinndon, Ralph, and Tamora had finished fighting off the swarm of Cy-Bugs, so Turbo picked them up and flew to the castle.