With Felix safely mounted and clinging onto her from behind, Tamora wasted no further time. The cruiser lurched forward with impeccable speed and took them down the long tunnel that fed into Game Central Station. She kept her gaze forward as they rode the length of the passageway until they entered the busy terminal. This wasn't a strange sight to those who frequented the station, which is why no one panicked or batted a pixelated eyelash when they shot over towards the Sugar Rush portal.
The sickly sweet smell of cotton candy and other numerous treats was like a slap in the face if you weren't used to it (and even if you were used to it) upon arriving in the candy-coated land. The cruiser soared over the bridge - the very bridge where she and Felix had shared their first kiss - and headed straight for the castle, where they normally congregated when visiting the game.
Vanellope had originally suggested that they meet in Diet Cola Mountain as a makeshift secret base, but it took one glance at the boiling-hot cola springs and Mentos stalagmites for Tamora to deem it an unstable and unsafe location.
And so, it was decided that they'd always meet at the castle.
It didn't take long for them to arrive, based on how fast she was going. Soon enough, the cruiser landed a few steps short of the front door. She dismounted first and gave Felix a second to do so as well before the device folded right back up into its portable form. Reaching out, she saw to knocking so that their presence would be addressed. A second or so passed, and in this brief time of waiting she looked down at Felix to see if the ride over had ruffled his feathers any. Though he only seemed slightly disoriented. He was getting better at that.
Soon enough, the door opened and the oh-so-excitable face of Sour Bill appeared, gazing up at them with his droopy green eyes. "Welcome, friends of President Vanellope…" he droned, ever the cheer-bringer. "Won't you come in?" The small sphere stepped aside to grant them entry while simultaneously offering the pair a slow bow. Tamora strode past him with little concern or regard to King Candy's previous minion. "Sheesh. Would it kill'ya to perk up, Sour Stuff?"
The two of them were ushered into the building, though Felix was careful to avoid the chocolate welcome matt that he knew was not as innocent or as welcoming as it appeared to be. But despite that, he still offered Sour Bill a smile and a wave as he followed closely after his wife.
The interior was no-doubt impressive.
Absolutely everything in sight was constructed out of some sort of confection. Now, he didn't know much about Vanellope's decorative tastes, but there did seem to be more pink involved in the colour scheme than even the little racer would be fond of.
Not too much after that thought had crossed his mind, could the pitter-patter of tiny feet be heard racing down a nearby hall, followed by a distinctly familiar voice.
"Ralph! Hurry it up, ya slowpoke! We've got guests!" Came the excited voice of Vanellope, as she skidded around the corner and came to a stop atop a set of stairs that were constructed out of what appeared to be large strawberry sugar wafers. Tamora couldn't keep a smirk from forming on her lips as the miniature president appeared before them with all her showoff-y bravado.
Vanellope hopped down a couple steps, and stopped when she was about eye-level to the Sarge. "Welcome, to castle von Schweetz!" She announced with a large grin, as if the two hadn't visited there before. "Ralph's comin', and just a heads up, he's been clumsier than usual today." She told them both with a laugh.
"Felix, Sarge," the wrecker greeted not a moment later. "Nice've you guys to meet up with us." He held his coworker's stare for a second and then glanced at Vanellope with his eyes before giving his head a small shake, implying that no, she wasn't infected.
Felix slouched forward a little in relief and replied with a smile and a nod of his own, gesturing as discretely as he could to Tamora to signal that she too, was unaffected.
Perhaps it had been the prospect of seeing his best friend, or just because he was sick of well, being sick, Ralph had put some serious effort into masking his condition. That didn't erase the look of fatigue on his face, or the nature in which his massive shoulders were slumped, but at least he wasn't stumbling around (as much) or encountering that awful screeching noise (sort of).
"It was Fix-It's idea to head over," Tamora explained, resting her weight onto one leg and loosely folding her arms over her chest. And now that they were there it generally fell upon Vanellope to dictate what they were going to do, since she was technically the leader of Sugar Rush. Lucky for them the tiny ruler was far too tomboyish for things like 'tea parties' and 'manicures'.
Thank goodness for that.
"Well don't look too excited!" The litter racer teased, hopping down the last couple steps to stand in front of both Tamora and Felix. "Come on! We've been in here all day." She gestured for the others to follow her as she walked past the still-nearby Sour Bill and out the front door to the castle, stopping only once she was out the doors to glance back over her shoulder at the others. "I was thinking we could go to Gumdrop Hill and watch Ralph throw jawbreakers down it. That's always good for a laugh. Or! Or! We could go for a swim- or…" She trailed off, shooting a sly look towards Felix, "We could hang out in the 'fungeon', if ya want." She said with a laugh.
That suggestion however, just caused Felix to cross his arms and grin at the mischievous president.
"Are you going to suggest that every time we come here?" He questioned, amused.
"You better believe it. Now come on!" The girl rushed, skipping ahead of them and down the path leading away from the castle.
Vanellope's energy spread faster than wildfire. Were Ralph in a better state of being, he might have chased after the youngster and swung her onto his shoulders while they headed for their destination. Instead, he trailed behind her, while trying to keep himself upright and not stumbling all over the darn place.
If he was being honest, throwing jawbreakers around wasn't exactly something he wanted to do. That required strength on his part, and since he was rather lacking in that department, he figured something more relaxing and quiet would work.
Tamora walked behind the two alongside Felix, with her cruiser still slung over her back. Nearby, she could hear the sound of the other racers zooming through the various tracks as they practiced for upcoming races. Since Sugar Rush's liberation, the kids weren't nearly as bratty as they were before. They maintained some attitude, sure, but they weren't completely unbearable like they had been under King Candy's rule.
Up ahead, Ralph looked down at Vanellope. "So, where we headin', kid? I'm not really feeling the jawbreaker idea," he said, trying to think of a valid excuse as to why it would be better if they boycotted the possibility altogether. "Last time I dropped one on my foot, and I can still feel it in my toes." Alright, so that wasn't a complete lie. He had dropped it, and his toes still maintained that unpleasant ache. Sort of. "What about taking a trip to Ice Cream Slope?"
That way, Vanellope would be distracted by the copious amounts of ice cream and wouldn't pay much attention to him or Felix. Besides, last time they went they'd all had a fairly good time.
"Oh, yeah!" Vanellope cheered in agreement at Ralph's suggestion, pumping her fist up into the air and turning back around to continue down the path. She hadn't seemed to think much about Ralph's unwillingness to toss jawbreakers down the hill. She remembered quite vividly (and with great amusement) how the wrecker had dropped one of the large hard candies directly onto his foot last time they had done that. It had to have hurt, but it sure was funny; and while she wouldn't have been totally opposed to a repeat performance, the idea of slipping and sliding down Ice Cream Slope was pretty appealing too.
That, and Ralph seemed a little… off today.
Eventually, they all made their way to the base of Ice Cream Slope. A large mountain that was adorned completely with different flavours and layers of ice cream. Some of the other denizens of Sugar Rush could be seen sliding down the mountainside with glee, building ice cream forts, making ice cream angels, having ice cream fights, all of the usual activities related to colder environments.
"Well, here we are!" She announced, hopping into some of the vanilla ice cream in front of her that suddenly divided the candy-forest area to the more alpine-esque one. "Sarge! If you grab one of those donuts over there, we can go down the frozen slide!" The excited girl called out, pointing towards a long half pipe a little ways up the mountain, where other children seemed to be sliding down it on what appeared to be oversized donuts. "Last time I tried to get Ralph to go on it with me, we took out practically everyone on the way down." She giggled at the memory.
"Alright, Schweetz. Let's show these slope-sliders how it's really done," she stated, heading over to the stack of donuts. She easily hauled one of the thick rings onto her shoulder before she began hiking up the gooey incline with little to no effort. Vanellope gave the male half of their group an excited wave, before scrambling after Tamora.
This left Felix and Ralph alone to discuss what was plaguing both their minds (and bodies) at that moment.
"What are we going to do?" Felix whispered urgently up to his friend, tugging on his overalls to get his attention. "If we're going to get their help, then we've got to tell them." He wrung his hands nervously in front of himself, obviously apprehensive about doing just that.
The wrecker took in a deep breath and then exhaled a cloud of frosty air. "Then we'll tell them," he replied, glancing up to where Sarge and Vanellope had gone. "If we break it to them gently there shouldn't be a problem, right?"
There was a bout of silence, and all Felix could do was take off his hat and run a distressed hand through his hair.