A/n: Just kind of wrote this on a whim. Read a few stories with this paring and instantly fell in love with it. But I noticed a common trend: almost all the V/C stories I've seen take place after the movie. So I thought "why don't I try and write one that happens during the movie?" This is the result. Tell me what you think.

Chapter 1: Light in the Dark

The crowds cheer as the racers pull up to the finish line after another successful day of racing. Six of them drive in from the nearby town, where they had spent their day off. The remaining eight were already there, waiting for their king's speech.

One such racer was a girl with with mint green hair, wearing a pink jacket and skirt, along with a brown shirt and leggings. On her head was cake themed hat, the single candle on it burning brightly. This was the girl simply known as Candlehead.

She smiled as she watched her fellow racers arrive. Today had been a good day. In every race she'd been in, she'd placed in the top three. To top it off, she'd even gotten first in one of the final races of the day.

As the racers departed their carts, Candlehead took that as her cue to head towards the racer's stand. As she followed her fellow racers to stand before the king's podium, something glinted in the corner of her eye. Looking, she thought she saw someone duck behind a fan box with Taffyta's name on it. She stared at the spot for a moment, then shrugged and kept walking.

Must be seeing things. She thought to herself.

Taking her place among the racers, she waved to her friend Rancis. The boy rolled his eyes a bit, but still gave a small wave back. When Taffyta walked up next to her, Candlehead gave her a high-five before the blond took her place at the head of the group.

Up on the king's podium, a small green sour ball walked up to a microphone. Like always, Candlehead felt a twinge of sympathy at the sight of Sour Bill. The guy just always seemed so... run down. In his constantly tired-sounding voice, Sour Bill gave his usual monotonous introduction:

"Citizens of Sugar Rush... all hail our rightful ruler... King Candy."

Instantly the curtains from the back of the podium exploded open, revealing their eccentric king. "Hello, my royal subjects! Have some candy!"

Digging into his pockets, King Candy threw handfuls of candy out into the crowd. Though the crowd cheered, Candlehead had always thought this... odd, to say the least. Other then the racers themselves, everyone in Sugar Rush was candy, so wasn't giving them candy to eat kind of... weird?

"Thank you for that stirring introduction, Sour Bill," the king said, patting the green man on the head. The sour ball just gave a small nod and walked off, his expression little more then mild annoyance.

Candy King then went into his speech about the Roster Race. Candlehead just tuned him out. She knew she should listen, but, honestly, it was the exact same thing she'd heard every day for the last fifteen years. Thank you to today's avatars, wonderful day of racing, the arcade's closed, big race, first nine racers race tomorrow, need a coin if you want to compete. She'd heard it so often she knew it by heart.

Instead, she let here eyes wander. Naturally, there wasn't much to see, just the same raceway she'd always known. The crowd was hanging onto to King Candy's every word. Most of the racers were too, while the few how weren't seemed to just be letting their minds wander. Rancis even pulled a small mirror out of his pocket and was checking his reflection.

Again, Candlehead caught a glint in the corner of her eye. Looking, she saw someone come out from behind the same box as before. With the crowd distracted, no one seemed to notice the girl push a card under a tarp out onto the track. The girl had the hood up on her hoodie, (odd, every other human in Sugar Rush wore racing jackets) so Candlehead couldn't see who it was. Sticking out of her pocket was what had glinted in Candlehead's eye: a gold coin.

The cake-themed girl was shaken from her thoughts when she saw more glints all around her. King Candy had apparently reached the end off his speech and had called for everyone to pull out their payment to race.

Candlehead quickly reached into her pocket and retrieved her own coin. Putting it in both hands, she held it out so the king could see it. Then, with a large toss, King Candy threw his coin onto the catapult behind them all, which then launched it into the Winner's Cup.

"King Candy!"

The King's name was added to the blank racer's screen, the automated announcer saying his name. Candlehead always found it strange that his name was said in a different voice then the rest of the racers, but she figured it was just because he was King.

After him came Taffyta. As her name went up on the scoreboard, she jumped up, actually hovering in the air, and said to the crowd, "Stay sweet!" How she could hover like that was anyone's guess.

The racers got in line, each reading to toss their coin. As Candlehead took her place at the end of the line, she caught sight of that strange racer again, pushing her covered cart next to Taffyta's. Once it was in place, the racer ran up towards the line of racers, taking her place behind Candlehead. Candlehead caught a glimpse of the girls face. While her face was covered in the shadow of her hood, and the goggles over her eyes hid some of her features, one thing was obvious: the girl was very nervous.

Candlehead shook off her thoughts and looked forward. It was her turn to toss. She watched as her coin sailed through the air and entered the cup, her name lighting up on the board.

As she walked away, she glanced back at the mystery racer. Candlehead noted that the coin she held was very different from the one she herself had used. It was much thinner, and had a blue ribbon attached to it's top. The word "HERO" was embossed on it's front.

Curiosity piqued, Candlehead stopped walking towards her cart and instead watched as the hooded girl held the coin in both hands. She stared at it for a moment, as if she was afraid to let it go. Then, she gave the coin a kiss, then threw it onto the catapult. The coin was launched into the air, the it's ribbon waving in the wind. Unlike the other coins, this one didn't simply land in the cup. It bounced off the rim of it, landing on the other side of the cup. It then started to roll around the rim of the cup, almost like it was teasing the racer.

Looking at said racer, Candlehead was dumbfounded by the girl's reaction. The racer was staring up at the rolling coin, her fists clenched, a look of absolute desperation on her face. It was almost as if her entire life was riding on this one coin.

Candlehead was just about to ask the girl what was wrong when the coin fell in.

"Vanellope von Schweetz!"

Candlehead felt her code chill.

The Glitch.

Vanellope looked around the finish line in shock. Then, she jumped up, her body breaking apart into a shower of blocky blue code before forming back together again. As she landed on the ground, she ripped down her hood, her goggles coming off with it. "Yippee! I'm in the race!"

King Candy stared down at the track in shock. "Vanellope!?"

Taffyta, catching sight of the covered cart, ripped of the tarp, revealing a patchwork peddle cart that seemed to have been thrown together with bits and pieces of broken carts. "The Glitch!" Taffyta growled, her voice filled with scorn.

Candlehead stood frozen. While Taffyta and Rancis had faced the Glitch before, she'd only seen it a few times, usually whenever she... it had tried to sneak into a race. But those times she'd seen it from a distance, running from the cops. But now...

Now it was only a few feet from her.

The crowd started to panic. King Candy had told them all about the glitch. How it was a mistake, a creature that should have never existed. How dangerous it was; how, if anyone in the arcade knew it existed, their game, their world, would be doomed.

Candlehead stared at the Glitch to scared to move. But somewhere, in the back of her mind, a part of her that could still think rationally, took note of one detail.

The Glitch's eyes were wide, flitting back and forth from the panicked candy fans. It's hands seemed to be shaking, and it took a half step backward, like it was ready to bolt.

The Glitch is scared, she realized.

"Now, now!" King Candy yelled from his podium, trying to calm the terrified masses. "Everything is all right! Security!"

Two cops, one a donut and one an éclair, came out from the bottom of the podium, brandishing police batons.

"Come'ere, kid!" One said, a frown on his face.

"Were not gonna hurt you, ya little freak!" The other sneered, hitting his baton against the palm of his hand.

This shocked Candlehead. They... they're not really gonna hurt her... it... are they?

The Glitch took a few steps back, her form glitching in fear.

Then she ran.

She leapt down onto the track, bolting towards her cart. As she ran passed the racers, they glared at her some with anger some with fear.

Candlehead didn't know what to think. Part of her was scared of the danger it presented. Part of her was angry at the Glitch for possibly putting her home in jeopardy.

But there was another small part. A part that had seen the hope on the Glitch's face when she tossed that strange coin. A part that had seen the joy when she had seen her name up on the scoreboard. A part that had seen the fear, the terror at the crowds reaction to her.

That part was hoping she'd make it.

The Glitch was almost to her cart, when something pushed it's way out of the candy forest.

It was giant, towering over every everyone by at least eight feet. It's body seemed to be made of green taffy, bits of different candy sticking randomly out of it's body. And in it's eyes... rage.

"You!" It bellowed, pointing at the Glitch. "Give me back my medal right now!"

"Oh, boy!" The Glitch yelled, turning back towards the crowd. The two cops took one look at the monster and ran, the other racers not far behind. The monster charged across the track, it's eyes focused only on the Glitch.

The Glitch ran up towards the stands, blasting past Candlehead. Her eyes glanced at one of the fan box's like she was contemplating hiding under it, but instead made a break for the arch under the king's stand.

Candlehead had no idea what happened. Through the whole ordeal, she'd been staring at the Glitch in shock. Once the taffy monster made it's appearance, her mind screamed at her to move, to run, to do something! For some reason, her body refused to move. That is, until she heard King Candy yell.

As the Glitch ran under the podium, the monster tried to follow. However, it couldn't fit. So what did it do?

It picked up the podium, and threw it into the air.

King Candy and Sour Bill went flying, crashing into a stand full of marshmallow fans. As the king screamed on his descent, Candlehead looked up and saw the podium hurtling towards her. Her body final decided to move...

...one second too late.

She had just enough time to give a scream of fear...

...before everything went dark.

Vanellope kept running, the monster chasing her deeper and deeper into the candy town. Candy fans and racers fled all over the place. She could have sworn she saw Taffyta jump in a trash can in an attempt to hide. Vanellope tied everything to out maneuver the giant monster, but every wall she jumped over, every concession stand she crawled under, the monster behind her just smashed right through it. Looking around desperately, she saw something in the distance: a cupcake tower, like the one next to the finish line.

She shook her head. But he wouldn't be so stupid to...

Glancing behind her, she saw the giant trip over a sidewalk curb, before clambering up to keep chasing her.

She smirked. Maybe he is...

Taking a sharp left, Vanellope made a bee-line for the tower, the monster hot on her heels. Reaching it, she scramble through the legs of the tower. Once on the other side, she turned around and waited.

Sure enough the monster simple batted the legs of the tower aside, the cupcake on top flying up into the air. He brought back his arm, about to try and grab her, when a shadow came over his face, he looked up.

Splat!

Vanellope couldn't help but laugh at the sight of the big green giant trapped inside the cupcake, still trying to grab her. She danced once around him for a moment, celebrating her victory, before running off.

"Come back here!" The monster yelled before falling over, immobile.

Laughing at her success, Vanellope started running back towards the finish line, and her cart. As she did, she was dimly aware of the two cops from before running up to the monster, batting him (ineffectively) with their batons.

When she got to the track, she was surprised to find it... empty. The racers, the fans, King Candy, Sour Bill; everyone was gone. Looking back at the town, she could here still yelling, and what sounded like King Candy giving directions from a megaphone.

Everyone must be trying to put the town back together, she thought. She smiled. Makes getting out of here a lot easier .

She started to run towards her cart when she heard a soft sound.

She froze. It was very faint, but she knew she'd heard it. She looked around, trying to figure out where it came from. Everything seemed fine, save for King Candy's podium, which lay a crumpled mount of cloth and metal.

Her eyes widened. No way.

She walked up to the smashed podium, straining her ears. With a start, she heard it again.

It was a single word, small and sad and filled with pain.

"Help..."

Candlehead opened her eyes to blackness.

Instantly, her heart started hammering. She was scared of the dark. Monsters lived in the dark.

Now that she was awake, however, the candle on her hat started to warm, a tiny flame flickering into existence. Now with a bit of light, she calmed, but not by much. Now able to see, she looked around.

Broken metal bars surrounded her on all sides, like some kind of cramped, twisted cage. Draped and woven around the bars was a large red and white striped cloth.

A sudden pounding in her head alerted her to a large headache, possibly a concussion. Slowly, the memory of the crashing podium came back to her. She let out an relived sigh. She was alive! Of course, no one could die in Sugar Rush; it wasn't that kind of game. But just because you couldn't die didn't make the pain any less real. Deciding to crawl out, Candlehead tried to lift herself of the ground.

"Augh!"

The moment she tried to move her legs, a pain like she'd never felt before surged through her. Looking down, she could see that her left leg was pinned by one of the bars. She grasped the bar and tried to lift it, but the second she touched it, a massive creak sounded throughout the collapsed structure. She froze, instantly releasing the bar. Moving her head as little as possible, she traced the length of the bar. Her breathing grew choppy as she followed the lings of twisted metal. From the looks of it, the bar pinning her leg was the load-bearing for the broken podium. If it fell, the whole thing would collapse on top of her. Even though she knew she wouldn't die, the though of how much pain all that weight would cause...

Candlehead's eyes slammed shut as she tried to erase the thought from memory. Opening them again, she looked around. Her candle flickered dimly, reflecting her mood. Out of options, she did the only thing she could think of.

"Help..."

She mentally kicked herself. That was too quiet, no one was going to hear...

"Hello? Is someone in there."

Candlehead's head popped up at the voice, her candle instantly burning brighter. "Yes." Her voice was very small. She coughed a few times and tried again, louder this time. "Yes! Yes, I'm in here. I'm trapped."

"Oh, man." The voice said worriedly. Odd, thought Candlehead. Her voice sounds familiar but she doesn't sound like any of the racers... "Hold on, I'm gonna try and get you out." The structure then gave an ominous moan.

"Wait, stop!" Candlehead screamed. The creaking stopped instantly as the person outside froze. "You can't just take it apart. This whole place is about to come down."

"Well then how do I get you out?"

"I..." The words caught in Candlehead's mouth. Tears staring to form, she choked them out. "I don't know."

Both sides were then silent. Candlehead started to despair. If she stayed in here, the structure would eventually collapse on her. But if the girl outside tried to get her out, she'd get buried anyway.

Her inner torment was broken when the person out side called to her. "Hey, you got a name?"

Candlehead nodded, before realizing how useless that was. "Y-Yes. I'm Candlehead."

A soft gasp sounded from the person. "Taffyta and Rancis's friend." The person was quiet, before taking a deep breath. "Okay. Candlehead, I think I've got a way to get you out of there. But you're gonna have to trust me."

The green haired girl was confused. "W-Why...?"

"Just...! ...just, please trust me." The voice had gotten really quiet, almost hesitant. Candlehead realized the person was worried about something. "And... don't freak out."

Freak out? Why would I...?

Candlehead's mind stalled as cubes of blue code started floating into the structure, passing right through the cloth and the bars. At first it was just a small trickle, but soon it became a torrent of data swirling in the air.

Candlehead realized what it was, who she had been talking to. She knew she should be scared, but as she watched the millions of tiny blue lights twist and dance in the air, she only had one thought:

So... Beautiful...

Soon the code started to compact in one spot right next to Candlehead, a small space just barely big enough for one person. The data got denser and denser, a humanoid form starting to appear. Suddenly, there was a flash of light, like one of the small glitches she had seen before. Not a foot away from her stood The Glitch.

Candlehead stared at her, dumbfounded by what had just happened. The Glitch pressed her hands to her head, as if dizzy. "Whoa... never tried that before." She shook her head to clear it, then caught site of the girl before her. "Candlehead!" She exclaimed, kneeling next to the racer.

Candlehead looked up at her dumbly. Instinct told her to get away, to freak out. But that instinct was being suppressed by that same part of her mind from before. All that part could think was: The Glitch is helping me.

A snapping sound brought her attention to the gi-glitch beside her. "Hey, Candle. You okay?"

Candlehead had to work her mouth a few times before words came out. "U-Uh, y-yeah, I'm fine." Other then the beam crushing my leg...

If the Glitch noticed the way Candlehead was acting, she didn't voice it. Instead, she looked at Candlehead's leg. Very gently, she poked the bar pinning her down. The destroyed podium gave a small shudder, illustrating just how fragile it was. The Glitch shook her head. "Yeah, you're stuck good. There's no way were lifting this without taking the whole place down."

Candlehead's flame dimmed, a look of fear on her face. "Then what are we going to do?"

The Glitch looked away for a moment. Then she took a deep breath, as if steeling herself. She turned and looked directly into Candlehead's eyes, amber orbs locking with green ones. "Remember when I said you had to trust me?"

Candlehead stiffened. Trust the Glitch? "Yes..." she answered, apprehension obvious.

This was not lost on the Glitch. She took a deep breath, trying to keep calm. "Look, I get it." Candlehead tilted her head in confusion. "I know what you think of me." Her voice got low, and her eyes lowered. "You think I'm some kind of freak." The racer's eyes widened at her bluntness. "I've heard King Candy's 'warnings.'" The last word was said with a large amount of venom. "To stay away from The Glitch that hides in the junkyard. You and the other racers, you think that I'm just a piece of messed up programing, a glitch in the game code. A...a mistake."

The Glitch seemed to be holding back tears now. Candlehead just listened in silent shock. She was about to say something, what, she didn't know, when The Glitch continued. "And your probably right." Candlehead's mouth slammed shut in shock. The Glitch chuckled humorlessly. She sat down on the ground, pulling her legs against her chest. "Surprised? I'm not an idiot, Candlehead. My code is unstable." As if to prove this fact, her form glitched in a blue flash. Candlehead noted that she didn't even seem to notice. "Normal racers aren't suppose to zap around or break down their code at will. I know I'm not suppose to be a racer. But...but I can just feel it inside me. Racing's in my code. And all I want is the chance, just the chance, to prove that even though I wasn't suppose to be a racer, I can be one anyway."

Candlehead listened silently. She had to admit, The Gli- the girl made a good argument. But... what about everything King Candy had said?

The girl turned to Candlehead, a smile that didn't reach her eyes on her face. "So I get why you don't trust me. But you're stuck here, and when this place comes down, you're going to be in a world of hurt." Candlehead flinch at her bluntness, but knew she was right. "Now, I don't like seeing people get hurt. So, just this once, I ask you, please... trust me."

Candlehead stared into the girl's deep amber eyes, searching for any kind of deceit. Instead, all she saw as an honest need to help. She thought over the girl's little speech, of how passionate she had sounded, and how broken she had been in some places. Letting out a sigh, she nodded.

"Okay."

The girl beamed, suddenly full of life. "Okay! Give me your hands."

With a slight hesitation, Candlehead held out her hands. The girl held out her own as if to hold them... then wrapped Candlehead in a hug.

Candlehead felt her face redden at the sudden proximity. "W-Wha..."

"Quiet, please," the girl said softly in her ear. "I need to focus."

Surprised, Candlehead just nodded and stayed silent, trying to ignore the burning in her cheeks. With no idea on what to do, the green haired racer simply wrapped her own arms around the girl's waist.

Everything was silent for a few seconds. Then...

"Okay...and...glitch!"

Candlehead's mind went into overdrive. A sudden blue flash, and she felt like she was floating, lighter then air. It was like she could see everything and nothing at the same time. She was everywhere and nowhere. It felt...it felt...

Amazing.

Just as quickly as it started, it was over. Whereas she had been straining to see anything in the darkness before, she was now blinded by sunlight all around them. They were on the empty raceway. Voices could be heard from the town nearby, but they were very faint.

A sudden crash sounded in front of her. She watched as the crumpled remains of the King's podium collapsed in on itself. She gulped when she realized she had almost been at the bottom of that.

She stared at mass of twisted metal for a few seconds. Suddenly, she heard a voice speak into her ear. "Um, Candlehead? You can let go now."

Candlehead leapt back, a new blush painting her face. She stared at the girl in front of her for a few seconds, her mind still working slowly.

The girl gave her a worried look. "Hey, you okay, Candle?"

Candlehead Finally snapped out of her stupor with a shake of her head. "Y-Ye-Yes! Yes, I'm fine. A lot better now that I'm out of... that." She said bobbing her head towards the mess next to them.

The girl let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. Well, I better get going before His Royal Lameness sicks the cops on me again."

Candlehead should have been angry at her for insulting her king, but for some reason she just laughed. "Okay. Thanks for helping me out of there."

The girl waved her off. "Don't mention it. People got to watch out for each other." The sound of voices was off in the distance, but was getting louder. "Bye!"

Candlehead watched as the girl ran to her makeshift cart. She gave a glance up at the scoreboard, at all the names on it. She noted hers and the girls name at the very bottom. Contemplating for a moment, she called out. "Hey, Vanellope!"

Vanellope, halfway in her cart, turned around, a look of absolute shock on her face.

Candlehead gave her a wave good bye. "See you later!"

A wide grin spread across Vanellope's face. She waved back enthusiastically before peeling off down the track faster then Candlehead thought a peddle car possible.

Candlehead chuckled. Guess that girl isn't so bad after all.

"Hey, Candlehead!"

Said girl turned around to see Taffyta and Rancis running up to her. "Where have you been?" Taffyta asked.

"Uh," I can't tell her I was with Vanellope. An idea came to her. Doesn't mean I still can't tell the truth. "I got stuck under the podium" She said, bobbing her head towards the wreckage. "Just pulled myself out."

Rancis blinked, then looked over at the mass of steel and cloth. "You were stuck under all of that?"

Candlehead nodded. "Uh-huh."

He raised an eyebrow. "And you're... okay?"

She nodded again. "Yep. Well, my leg is a little sore, but other wise I'm fine.

Rancis looked her over, taking note of how scuffed up her clothes seemed to be. Then he nodded. "Huh. You're tougher then I thought."

"Thanks!" She turned to Taffyta, her head tilting as she did. "Um, why do you Tootsie Roll wrappers in your hair, Taffyta?"

The blonde quickly brushed out her hair with her hand, trying to rid herself of the trash as Rancis snickered behind her. "Doesn't matter." She looked up at the scoreboard, her eyes narrowing on the last name. "Don't suppose you know where The Glitch went, do you?"

Candlehead could feel her palms start to sweat. She was never good at lying to Taffyta. Um... play dumb! "Um... I don't think so."

Taffyta rolled her eyes at that. "Airhead," she mumbled under her breath. Candlehead narrowed her eyes slightly at that, but kept quiet. Taffyta looked back at Candlehead. "We're going to find the other racers and go teach The Glitch a lesson."

Candlehead felt a chill go down her spine at the Taffyta's words. "Um... what kind of lesson?"

Taffyta gave her a menacing smile. "We're going break that little Popsicle stick cart of hers."

Taffyta started walking back to town, Rancis write behind her. Candlehead stood glued to the spot. But... that'd destroy her...

Taffyta looked over her shoulder, noticing that Candlehead hadn't moved. "You coming?"

The green haired girl froze. C'mon, think fast. "Uh, my leg still hurts a bit. You guys go ahead, I'll catch up."

Taffyta stared at her for a minute, then she scoffed and kept walking. Once her and Rancis were out of site, Candlehead ran for her cart. Firing up the engine, she tore down the road towards where the glitchy girl had gone, only one thought on her mind

I have to warn Vanellope!

A/n: Okay, people it's up to you now. Should I keep writing, or should I just stop while I'm ahead. Let me know in the reviews.

See you latter.