Chapter 35
Vanellope and the group entered Sugar Rush with Taffyta, Snow, and Wendee having exchanged stories about what they each had been through. The racers' faces grew into shock upon seeing that their game was now a corrupt wasteland, and in Super Mario Bros.' condition.
"At least this one hasn't been swallowed up by the virus," said Snow, releasing a sigh. "Who knows what I'd do if Vanellope couldn't leave her own game like last time?"
"I don't know what you'd do, Snowanna." Taffyta drove the knife further.
"Gee, thanks."
"Hold it!" A group of four gummi bear guards stepped in front of the crew before it could advance.
Taffyta sighed. "We don't need this right now."
"They're under the influence. They don't care," Sora reminded. "But we need to get to that code room."
"Nobody's going anywhere, ladies." A guard formed one of his arms into a lance.
"We're going through you, then." Taffyta generated her own lance, pointing it at the guard. Candlehead and Snow followed with their own abilities, with Wendee and Mignogna activating their elements.
"You two get to the castle." The pink-haired siren regarded Sora and Vanellope. "We'll hold these guys off. She fired a stream of water at the guard, knocking him back.
Taffyta, Candlehead, and Snow focused their own attacks on another guard, with Candlehead engulfing him in flames, Taffyta thrashing his gut with her lance, and Snow pinning him to the Rainbow Bridge.
Mignogna hurled a fireball of her own at her guard, completely blanketing him in an inferno and putting him out of commission.
Vanellope and Sora took the opportunity to move ahead toward the castle.
"No, you don't!" The last guard lunged for the princess and the witch, gummi lance pointed at Sora.
Vanellope glitched in front of her, bracing herself to take the hit for her because Sora, of course, was not a part of Sugar Rush unlike the princess who would regenerate the moment the lance struck a vital. Code rippled through her body as she awaited the impact, closing her eyes.
It never came; nothing struck her. Instead, she heard the sound of lightning or sparks. When she opened her eyes, Vanellope saw the guard down his body engulfed in blue sparks and convulsed.
"What the...?" Vanellope wondered, studying the guard then her hands, where tiny sparks danced.
"Vanellope?" Taffyta, after she and the other two finished their guard, approached her.
"What was that?" Candlehead asked.
"What was what?" Mignogna with Wendee finished with their opponents to join them.
"The glitchy girl had...lightning surrounding her," Sora said, "then looked at Vanellope's hands, where the sparks vanished."
"Don't tell me you're getting infected, too," Snow groaned. "It's bad enough we are. We don't need our president joining the club."
"I don't know where it came from." Vanellope explained both sides of her hands like two coins. "But it saved Sora and I. Maybe it's some sort of temporary thing that, um, you know, happens when you enter a game or something. It's probably a one-time thing, guys. Besides, we need to get to my kingdom."
"Or Pink House?" Taffyta quipped. "Or Presidential Palace?"
Vanellope giggled at that. "Yeah."
…
"This is hard work." Tails sighed, Kohut's gun pointed clumsily at Turbo, who snickered at the fox's attempt. He had just relieved it from Surge, allowing him to take a break.
"I'd love to sthee you actually sthoot it," the ex-raced taunted. "I bet you can't"
"Oh...yeah?" The fox squeezed the gun harder.
"Be careful, dear!" Mary urged, she and Deanna kissing the corner farthest from Turbo.
"Don't kill us!" Deanna hugged the corner tightly.
"I'm not. I'm just trying to figure out how to use this thing." Tails examined the blaster and its many buttons surrounding the handle. He pressed random buttons, ending up with a toothbrush emerging, a comb, and even a rope. "Hero's Duty must have some good inventions. I can't even make anything this awesome, and Sonic and I hate guns."
"I had no idea," said Surge, entering behind his desk. "Those didn't come out when I was holding it. I ended up with the smokescreen."
"Hoo hoo hoo. Can't figure it out, Tailsth?" Turbo continued his jeers.
"I promise you. I will." The two-tailed fox pressed more buttons, causing a boxing glove to emerge, followed by the smokescreen Surge had caused earlier. It filled the entire office. Tails gagged, rubbing his eyes and trying to see. He then pushed another button, causing a laser to fire.
"Tails!" Mary screamed, she and Deanna trying to see.
"Thank you, you idiot fox," Turbo said.
"Miles!" Surge gasped.
"What?" The fox gagged, noticing severed ropes on the floor...and a pair of white and red feet in front of him. "Oh, no..."
"Yesth." Turbo grinned. "Sthee what happensth when you try to do sthomething you can't handle?"
"Not...good..." Tails backed away.
"What's going on?"
Everyone turned their attention to Kohut, who woke up and rose to his knees. He noticed the ex-racer.
"What the hell? You..." The second-in-command lunged at him, but crumbled to the floor again, still weakened from the ordeal in Hero's Duty.
"Good morning to you, too," Turbo mocked, then surveyed the office as the smoke cleared. "Now, who to sthart with. I may be weak like the big oaf, but I can take at leasth one of you out. Maybe I'll sthart with you sthince you freed me." The virus stopped at Tails.
The fox clenched his fists, fear rippling a little through his code. He refused to join Sonic; he wasn't the best fighter, but he would avenge the Sega Good Guy.
"Surge!" The door burst open, interrupting the upcoming stand off and causing everyone to turn their heads to see Bowser, Takuya, Koji, and a group of other characters. The Koopa King's eyes widened at the sight of the ex-racer in the middle of room. "What the fuck? How the hell is he living again?"
"Stheemsth it'sth time for me to leave, hoo hoo hoo," Turbo decided. "I'm a little outnumbered right now, but I will kill you all oncthe I recover." He glitched away with the last of his strength.
"What is he doing back?" Bowser growled. "He's lucky I didn't Bowserize that ass, assuming that he's responsible for what he did to Mario and Super Mario Bros."
"Sweet mercy! Your game too?" Mary asked.
"Yep," Koji replied, "And we hauled ass outta there, too. But like the big guy said, Mario, who was a Cy-Bug, didn't make it."
"There were...Cy-Bugs...in your game?" Kohut managed, returning to his knees once more. "How?"
"We were thinking one of the volunteers did it, but now I'm thinking that one of them was Turbo in disguise considering the nasty virus we found in the code room," said Bowser. "Had some chicken scratch, Chinese letters on it, too."
"Did it look like this?" Surge turned his computer around to show Bowser T.K.'s panel, with the demonic owner's portrait next to it.
"Yeah, wait, is that...?" The Koopa King froze.
"Her..." Takuya trailed off, scowling.
"T.K.'s behind this, too?" Koji asked.
"Yes, judging from the panels with her name that we've seen in some of the games," replied Surge.
"Why? What's she getting out of it?" Bowser inquired.
Surge briefly described T.K.'s history in the arcade, her failed relationship with Ralph, and the way she'd been ridiculed by the other characters.
"She and Wreck-It Ralph?" Koji raised an eyebrow.
"She mistreated another one?" Takuya hissed.
"Whoa, calm down, Red." The Koopa King gripped her shoulders, but she swatted them away. "What's your problem?"
"She had some bad blood with T.K.," Koji replied.
"We all have," Surge said.
"Only Taky's is worse." The blue-haired siren shook her head.
"And I'd rather not talk about it," Takuya cut in. "Let's focus on finding out where T.K. is and what Turbo's planning."
"We're not too certain of that, since Turbo hasn't told us too much," Surge explained. "We've tried to interrogate him but he didn't give us a lot of information to confirm that he was responsible for anything related to Cy-Bugs or viruses...except for some hacking and recruiting Kenneth. We won't be getting any more information out of him, I can guarantee that."
"Where's Sarge?" Kohut interjected, surveying the office.
"She went with Ms. Aika, Mr. Dyne, and Mr. Zangief to Street Fighter II to check for a virus there," replied the arcade guardian.
"We should probably do the same at this point," said Mary. "Surely sitting around isn't going to do us any good. Of course, some of us should look for Turbo."
"We'll do that," Surge decided. "Miles and Mr. Kohut will go with me to look for Turbo."
"We'll check the ones that haven't gone down, starting with our game," Deanna decided. "And we can take some of your group with us, Bowser."
The Koopa King nodded. "Okay. And then the two pop girls and I can check Fairytale Speedway or whatever that game is. The rest of the weaklings led by Monado Boy and Star Girl can check other games."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Koji agreed. "Though I don't like us being called 'pop girls.' But one question."
Surge raised his eyebrows, all ears.
"Are Turbo and T.K. working together?"
"Yeah," Tails spoke up. "If not Mr. Candy, maybe Turbo and T.K. are in on it together."
"Again, there are still several unknowns to this," the arcade guardian repeated. "We'll just have to keep digging around."
…
"I thought I had this castle organized from King Candy's mess," Vanellope groaned. She, Taffyta, Candlehead, Snow, the two sirens, and Sora entered Sugar Castle, which was undergoing a makeover. Instead of the "salmon" walls of its former vandal, the walls were purple. Rugs and curtains were ripped from the floors and windows respectively, as if the castle sat in the middle of renovation. An unscheduled renovation.
"You didn't request a renovation, did you, Pres?" Snow asked.
"Nope. And I wouldn't ask for purple if I did."
"Intruders!" A band of Oreo guards and graham crackers came out of the halls surrounding the stairs, weapons in hand.
"And the nonsense continues," said Taffyta. "Look, guys, do you even know who you're pointing your spears and flat guns at?"
"Yeah, this is you president," Vanellope stepped forward. "And you guys are real nutso threatening me."
"We only answer to King Candy," one of the guards said, driving his spear closer to the crew.
"You might want to lower that before you hurt yourself," Mignogna suggested.
"Have you lost your crumbs?" Vanellope asked. "King Doofus isn't your ruler. He's locked up."
"You know what? This is dumb." Snow cracked her knuckles. "We already had to rough up some guys at the gate. We don't wanna do the same to you dudes."
"Last chance: drop the weapons and move out of the way," Vanellope ordered. "I'll have you do time in the Fungeon. The other guys attacked right away, but we're giving you a chance."
However, one of the graham cracker guards swung his weapon at Wendee, causing her to stumble backward.
"Looks like talking sucks against them," the pink-haired sister decided. She readied her element as did Mignogna.
Taffyta readied her staff, Candlehead generated her flame, and Snow assumed a fighter stance.
"You guys head for the code room, and we'll catch up," the lollipop racer instructed.
"I'm checking up on Ralph, White Hair," Vanellope decided. "The code room's behind the throne room. One of you three lead her there." She regarded her fellow racers.
"How about us two hold off these guys," Mignogna said. "The three of you lead Sora to the code room."
"Will do." Taffyta saluted, knocking out her guard. "Girls, Sora, come on!"
"Good luck, guys!" Vanellope headed upstairs to see Ralph, while the other racers and Sora started for the code room.
...
"This lightning box must have something to do with why Vanellope is immune to the virus," Minty guessed, staring at the odd blue patch in the president's code. She, Citrusella, Adorabeezle, and Gretel hung inside the code room for what felt like an hour, examining the special patch in Vanellope's panel, while making seemingly a thousand attempts to pull out the virus inside King Candy's. No results emerged from either; they were still stumped on the lightning box, despite the sour apple racer's assumption regarding its relation to Vanellope's immunity, and the malware refused to budge. "But we can't be certain."
Citrusella made one final attempt to yank it out using her blueberry whip, but the virus remained in place. "Still nothing on this one."
"At least you tried," King Candy said.
"Yeah, but it got us nowhere." The blueberry recolor sighed, attaining an Indian style position in the void. "Besides, why are we caring about saving you when we don't actually trust you?"
"But he has info we need blocked by the virus," Gretel reminded.
"I was hoping you wouldn't remind us," Adorabeezle said.
The group jumped at the door suddenly opening.
"I hope it's not more guards," groaned Minty.
"Maybe it's Sour Bill...if we're lucky," Citrusella guessed.
"Hey, there's some guys in here." A feminine voice disputed the assumption.
"It looks like Citrusella's over there," another voice added.
The three racers and Gretel noticed Taffyta, Candlehead, and a white-haired woman swimming toward them, with Taffyta and Candlehead appearing in the trio's condition.
"It's been a while," Minty greeted the prisoners. "Who's she?" The green apple racer noticed the woman.
"This is Sora," replied Candlehead. "We got her from Tapper. Snow's standing guard outside."
"Do not address me like I'm an object," Sora scolded the birthday racer.
"Well, that is where you came from." Taffyta scoffed.
"Cut the introductions and show me Vanellope's code," Sora demanded, leaving no room for small talk. "Move aside, little girls."
Minty, Citrusella, Gretel, and Adorabeezle moved aside, allowing Sora clearance to Vanellope's panel. She noticed that it was already open. She grimaced, turning slightly on Citrusella's group. Sora found Candy's panel in the corner of her eye.
"Let me check you first," Sora decided as she moved to King Candy's panel, where she noticed the red patch. "T.K.'s panel hit you, too."
"T.K.?" Citrusella repeated.
"Is that the woman whose name you can't say?" Gretel asked King Candy.
"Yesth. She kept me from sthaying her name to prevent hersthelf from being discovered."
"Let's see here." The witch tapped on T.K.'s code, which continued to remain still. She gripped it, trying to jimmy it, but it still didn't move. "This looks like a strong virus. I'm not certain how to purify you."
"Can't you use your spells or potions to get rid of it?" Taffyta asked.
"If I had such power, every game would've been free of T.K.'s influence," Sora retorted. "You need an antivirus. Let me check Vanellope's." The witch swam back to the president's code, where she noticed the lightning bolt box. Taffyta and Candlehead caught up to her.
"That wasn't there before," the lollipop racer said.
"We're wondering when it got there, too," said Minty.
"My guess is that it either cam before the upgrade." Sora tapped the patch, causing it to shift a little. "Or with it."
"So what does that mean?" Gretel asked. "And you don't have any sweets on you, do you? 'Cause my stomach reacts badly to them." She rubbed her stomach.
Sora raised an eyebrow. "Why would I carry sugar, child? I'm in the same club. I hate sweets.. Spicy foods are my love with extra spiders."
"Cool." Gretel pumped her fist. "Without the spiders."
"Anyway, I need to see another panel. You, Pinky, show me yours." The witch pointed a manicured finger at Taffyta.
The pink-clad racer led Sora to her panel, where the witch opened it to reveal flashing corrupt patches, but as she scanned them no lightning box was present.
Closing it, Sora directed her gaze at one of the other racers besides Gretel.
"She wants someone else," the tween said.
"Minty wants to." Citrusella shoved the green apple racer forward.
Minty sighed, reluctantly swimming over to Sora and led the witch to her code box in the far corner of the character clusters. It wasn't far from her sisters'. Minty opened her box, allowing Sora to take a look, and when the witch glanced at all of the erratically-flashing patches, Sora shook her head.
"Vanellope's the only one with the patch, it seems," the white-haired woman concluded. "And from how she isn't infected by the virus, I would say that something about the lightning box in her code protected her from it. That can also mean..." Sora returned to Vanellope's panel. "that T.K.'s virus can be negated."
"Negate?" Candlehead repeated. "That's some hard words you're using."
"It means 'destroy,'" Gretel explained.
"You're pretty smart of your age." Citrusella flashed the tween a smile.
"And remember that we're technically your age," said Taffyta. "Mentally." She returned to the subject. "But using Vanellope's code? How's Vanellope's code supposed to get rid of T.K.'s virus?"
"Is it the lightning box?" Adorabeezle inquired.
"Let's connect a cord from the box to one brave volunteer, and we'll see," Sora instructed.
"What if that thing kills us?" Taffyta asked, a little uneasy. "I mean, what if the box only protects Vanellope but can kill us instantly?"
"Yeah, especially when we can't regenerate because of T.K.'s virus," added Minty.
"Wait, I didn't know that!"
Minty, Citrusella, and Adorabeezle nodded.
"Okay, then I'm definitely not falling on my lance for the team," Taffyta decided.
"We're with her," Citrusella agreed. "We don't know what it'll do to us."
"I cannot believe you guys!" Gretel blurted out. "You guys are gonna just curl up and hide and not give it a try?"
"And not sthave this game?" added Candy.
"Why do you care about this game?" The lollipop racer retorted. "You caused all this. You're probably helping T.K., for all I know. And Mr. Candy."
"If that woman'sth patch isth in me, then how could I work for her? And I have only justh learned about thisth 'Mr. Candy.'"
"Yeah, Taffyta, he claims he's the 'real' King Candy," Adorabeezle made air quotes.
"I am the real King Candy," the ex-monarch pleaded, then sighed. "What'sth the usthe? Turbo'sth done too much damage, but at leasth listhen to me when I sthay that if you want to sthave thisth game and the arcade, then my vanilla bean'sth patch may be the ansthwer."
"I'll do it!"
Everyone turned their attention to the code room's entrance to see Snow swimming up to them.
"Snow, you're supposed to stand guard outside," Candlehead reminded.
"Hey, I didn't promise a thing, Hothead," said the sherbet racer. "I was outside the room overhearing your little conversation about the patch in Pres' code. I think I'm willing to take the risk for my girl."
"You need to be certain, child," Sora stated firmly. "Not think."
"Okay, I know I'm willing to do it," Snow rephrased her decision, noticing the wide eyes. "Is that really any better?" She waved it off. "You know what? Fuck it. I'll get a dictionary or thesaurus later, but at least you guys understand that I want to save the arcade even if it means my game over."
Sora, Gretel, and Candy nodded, with the witch saying, "You five can learn a lot from this one."
"Screw you, too." Citrusella flipped her off. "I just don't know what the patch would do, and now we're going to."
"Where's your code box?" Sora asked, pulling a cord connecting the lightning box to another add-on Vanellope had.
"Above us near the Winner's Cup." Snow swam up,with Sora carrying the cord. When the two women arrived at the colorful racer's box, the witch gave her one last grim look.
"Are you ready?" she asked. "You're not going to wimp out like your friends down there?"
"Hell no. I'm not like them," Snow spat. "Now, hook me up."
Sora plugged the cord to Snow's box, causing it to begin flashing. The flashing started slow, then quickened in pace.
Snow doubled over, pain shooting through her body like an electrical current riding a cord. She grabbed her chest, then sank to her knees. Glitches ran through the sherbet racer's code like Vanellope's whenever the princess glitched. The glitch quickened in tempo with the flashes in her code box, but unlike Vanellope, the glitches felt like someone was constantly smacking her around hard. Snow's vision began to blur, and her breath shortened with each passing second. She struggled to keep her eyes open, but they may have well been weights. Her body felt heavy as well in contrast to the lack of gravity in the code room.
"Snow!" Taffyta's voice echoed, but it grew more distant the further the sherbet racer drifted away. The last thing she saw were pink, purple, green, and white blurs before she lost consciousness.