"I can't believe you decided to let me help decorate," Vanellope commented as she followed her doppelganger to the storage cellar. "I mean, King Candy never let me into any parties at the castle, so I'm probably the last person you should've asked."
"Yeah, I figured," Princess Vanellope muttered as she started to move boxes out of the way. "I hate to say it, but you're the one person at this arcade I understand the most. After all, you are-!"
"Myself," they said simultaneously, both giggling a little in response. The president explained, "Ralph went out to get the items on your list, and they're all going down here?"
"Yes, until tomorrow night. I figured the fruits and candies would last until then. I'm also getting Sour Bill bake a big cake tomorrow after the arcade closes."
"Great! You're Sour Bill is just a good a baker as mine, right?"
"I'm sure of it!" The Vanellopes smiled at one another, and soon after cleaning up the room, Ralph came in, hauling a crate in each arm.
"So, where do you want the crates put, President Fartfeathers?"
Vanellope giggled at the name, pointing to her royal double. "Well, Princess Fartfeathers would like them set over there, right?"
The princess gave a little nod and laughed as well. "Right, President, Ralph can put them over there." She pointed to a clear area and Ralph set them down. Before they left, all three of them talked together. Though Ralph and the original Vanellope were definitely close, the two Vanellopes seemed to talk more than the wrecker. And though she was a princess, Ralph couldn't help but notice how many crude jokes the other Vanellope made. Either the sugar brat's a bad influence, he thought, or she's more like her old version than I know.
Getting ready for this party was hard work. After the arcade had closed, everyone in Sugar Rush Unlimited got straight to preparing. Princess Vanellope checked that all the decorations were in the right places and taste-tested every sweet herself. The Peppermint Twins made sure their dress and tux matched. Orbetta Rainbeau put her hair into a long braid, and decided her dress should match her rainbow braid. Monty Ray Jack made sure his curly hair wasn't too curly, despite being programmed that way. Babel Gumi didn't even bother trying to untangle her mess of hair, and made a dress and jacket from spare candy wrappers. Other racers prepared and all gathered to the castle at midnight. However…
Some would not get in. The Peppermint Twins pounded on the door, yelling for someone to let them in. But, no matter how hard they try, the guards on the other side said, "No! We're not letting any of you in!"
"Oh, why not?" Pep punctuated with another fist to the door. With no one answering, both twins slid down the door in defeat. They were not the only ones outside, however. With them was Monty, Orbetta, Babel, and Malty.
"I can't believe they won't let us in," Babel scoffed. "I mean, we haven't done anything wrong." Though no one noticed it, Minty started wringing his hands.
"Well, I'm surprised you even showed." Pep gestured to the bubble gum racer with a hand. "You usually don't attend anything with any of us."
"That's because you never ask."
"Well, maybe if you hung out with us more, I'd ask." Pep got up from sitting and went right over to Babel.
"Isn't it a little rude to not ask even if I don't hang out with you?"
"Well, I-!" It was then Monty got up and stepped between them.
"Girls, please, I know we're all frustrated 'cause we didn't get in, but can we please focus on something else?" The two both let out a huff, but sat down again. Then, there was a long silence, only the beat of the music coming from inside keeping it from being totally quiet.
"Hey, guys…" Orbetta broke the silence after a few long minutes. "Have you ever thought what it'd be like if we had parents?"
"You're really thinking about that right now?" Monty asked, looking tiredly at Pep sitting against the door.
The sour candy racer gave a nod, and explained, "Well, if we don't have a backstory, we might as well make up our own, right? I think that my parents would be sweet candy-making folks, but...they wouldn't be supportive of me. I mean, sweet and sour...they just don't fit."
"I don't think you're all that sour," Pep commented.
"Yeah, but I don't mean in disposition, I just mean I think I fit better with the sour candies. I like them, they're my fans, and I eat the non-sentient ones all the time. So, what about you, Pep?"
Pep looked to her brother for a moment and then stated, "I think our parents live far away from here, and we got into racing defiantly."
"They disapproved of us being so young," Minty continued, "yet we made our own kart and travelled here. And look at us now!" He tackled his sister playfully, and she let out a giggle. He looked to Babel and asked, "So, what about you?"
"Hmm, me? I think my parents would be sort of abusive. You know, always having fights, and when they're not, I'm in the middle of them. That, or they'd call me 'lazy, stupid, know-nothing…' stuff like that. I'd probably use racing as some form of getting away from all of it."
"You know, one of our parents, if we had them, would probably force us into racing," Pep commented. After a minute, all looked to Monty. He just let out a frustrated sigh.
"Oh, no, I-I'm not gonna play a part in this silly game."
"Monty, if you haven't noticed, we're part of a rather silly game," Babel chuckled.
"Fine, fine, my parents would probably be really into racing, and want me into it. But I'd do it begrudgingly, and only get into it to impress people." He paused as everyone sat down again, and then asked, "Why did you mention that anyway, Orbetta?"
"I just thought we could use a backstory…"
"Alright, that's it." Monty got up after another few minutes of silence. "We're getting in there, guards or not." The other four followed him to the edge of the balcony, curious. He looked back for a second. "Babel, you know a lot about the game. What's below this?"
"Well, the moat's built around some land, so you could jump down over there," she pointed to the right. "And you'd land on solid ground. There should be small grates that lead to the lower levels, but I don't know what really is down there."
"It's worth a shot to get in." Monty took a daring leap off the balcony and landed on solid ground, just as Babel had said. The others watched eagerly from the edge as Monty looked for a way in. Near the back of the castle wall, he found a grate, just big enough for a racer to squeeze through. Unfortunately, there were some bars blocking the way in. He called back to the others, "Okay, the only way I'll get through here is if we have-!"
"A crowbar?" Orbetta called out, pulling one from behind her back. Babel, Pep and Minty looked stunned.
Pep asked,"Wait, how did you do that?"
The sour candy racer gave a shrug. "I heard about this thing where characters can pull things from behind their backs. It's called 'Hammerspace,' and I thought it'd be cool to try out. Strange that we have the programming for it, huh?" She jumped off the balcony and came to Monty's side, wrenching the middle bar away and pulling the two others to the side. Monty pushed through the small grate and Orbetta did the same.
"Alright, the grate's open, so-!" Orbetta called out to the others but Monty put a hand over her mouth.
"Do you want anyone to hear us?! There are probably guards down here!" Sure enough, they heard the ominous "Or-ee-o" chanting not too far away. And it was getting closer….The two leaned up against a wall and Monty whispered, "How do we get past them?"
"Well, they don't have eyes, so maybe we could-!" Before Orbetta could spit out a plan, the Oreo guard turned a corner and spotted them, even without eyes. He yelled, "INTRUDERS! IN THE LO-!"
*CLANG!*
In one fluid motion, Orbetta smashed the guard with a crowbar before it countered with its spear. She smashed the guard a few more times, leaving a pile of smashed cookie crumbs and cream. It was a horrific sight for her friends to come into the room on. Pep noticed it first and gasped, "Orbetta! What did you d-!"
"I did what I had to," she answered, her voice sounding lower. "The guard will be back and they'll be plenty more sounding to the alarm. Run down the hall." She pointed behind her, not even flinching.
"But we can't just-!" Babel tried to step in, but the sour candy racer swung at her with the bar. Monty was fortunate to grab her away.
"GO! GO NOW!" The four ran fast down the hall as Orbetta prepared herself for more guards. Sure enough, the guards marched to her in rows of two, and she gave a swing to them, only to be met with a spear. The other racers went further down in the lower levels until they came to the storage vaults. Two guards stood watch and knew the racers were not meant to be down here. With no other place to go, all four stopped and put their hands up, two spears pointed at them.
"Well, we should've known the chase would stop somewhere," Babel sighed.
Princess Vanellope was called from the throne room to announce how the intruders should be punished. First off, she was quite astonished to find that the guards were keeping them out. But, she told them to take the intruders up to outside her private quarters; she'd deal with it there. As they were brought upstairs, the racers were happy to find themselves at the party. Many groans and sighs came out when they were pushed past it to upstairs.
Vanellope closed the door behind the guards, the racers forced to sit in a hallway between the stairs and the princess's bedroom. She looked at the intruders and sighed, "I'm sorry they put you through all of this."
"Wait, so we're not going to be punished?" Minty asked, worry on his face. Vanellope gave a nod, and the peppermint racer let out a sigh of relief.
"I should really have a talk with them. In fact...right now would be good." The princess went out to the stairwell and talked to the guards. From outside, the racers heard angry yelling and confused mutters. Not a minute later, Vanellope came back in, something in her hand. "You're not going to believe me, but somehow, my guards confused this list of 'what not to bring to the party' I gave to Wreck-It Ralph with you."
She looked the list over again, reading it aloud. "Let's see...'Red Vines' must be you two," she pointed to Pep and Minty, "'cheesecake' is you," Monty, "'sour candy,'" Orbetta, "and… 'candy wrappers for decorations.' Huh, I don't know how that applies to you, Babel…"
"Oh!" The bubble gum racer took off her jacket, showing the inseam. "I made all my clothes out of candy wrappers. They must've seen them and thought I wasn't allowed in. We're sorry for any trouble we've caused, your Highness."
"Oh, no, no need to apologize. This is all my guards' fault, anyway. I think I'll have a stern chat with them...and maybe rewire their code a lil…" she muttered, but cleared her throat. "You're now free to leave and enjoy the party." All five racers whooped and cheered, running out the door and down the stairs. In the throne room, they danced, ate some freshly-made sweets, and chatted with characters from games all over Game Central Station. They might of said it was the best anniversary party ever, but it was only the first for Sugar Rush Unlimited.