Chapter One – Tarnished

"Okay, let's get ready…"

Breath in, breath out.

"Its just like every other race day…."

Put on gloves, put on helmet.

"How many years have you been doin' this? Nearin' twenty?"

Hop into car, start engines.

It was another glorious race day in Sugar Rush, the sun still up, the sky still bright and every racer lined up and ready for the random roster race. The crowds were going WILD as the kids lined up with their cars but for anyone who was familiar with the little game, they would have told any new comer that the crowds had never been THIS excited before.

Ever since the event, ever since TURBO, the attendance at the races seemed to have doubled.

No, TRIPLED!

When word got out about the shunned racer, the real ruler, one Vanellope Von Schweetz, people HAD to come to see just how fast paced the races were.

And just how good SHE was.

No one could deny it; Vanellope had skill.

What was that saying she was fond of? It was in her code?

Yeah, it was in her code.

She of course led the pack, the crowds cheering more than ever as they saw her little cart come up to the starting line. She waved and smiled, never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that such an outpouring of excitement and love would be thrown towards her. For a greater portion of her life, the only thing she had been given was hatred.

Fueled by a deceitful ruler and warped minds, Vanellope had become a prisoner in her own home.

But things were different now. She had the love and adoration of so many in the arcade that to see them, she just didn't know what to do.

This was a new day for Vanellope Von Schweetz.

But it was also a new day for the other racers as well.

And one in particular.

Taffyta Muttonfudge.

She couldn't hide it from herself no matter how much she wanted to; she didn't want to go out there to the crowds.

It was so ironic that not too long ago, the little pink racer would have LOVED to be in Vanellope's spot. Once upon a time, it was HER who was in the front, HER who the crowds cheered and adored.

But now?

The girl gripped the steering wheel, her gloves squeaking on the candied surface.

She wanted to race, right?

She loved racing, right?

It was in her code…..

RIGHT?

At this point, she no longer knew. All she knew was that once she showed her face, she could hear them.

Not the other racers, not the programmed fans.

THEM.

The other citizens of the arcade. The ones who came from other games just to watch.

Just to watch her fail.

Just to watch her humiliate herself.

It was getting worse each roster race. At first, she paid no mind. The few jeers of fans didn't bother her but as word moved faster and faster around the arcade of what had gone in the game, they started to get louder.

They started to get meaner.

Crueler.

All the anger was aimed at her or at least most of it. There were so many who were not shy about their thoughts of the other racers but when it all came down to it, Taffyta always seemed to get the worst of it.

She heard that they called her. Who couldn't with as loud as they were?

They called her a brat, they called her a bully.

Over and over again, it came. Over and over.

And then they started to get personal. It wasn't just that she was labeled a brat, labeled a bully.

It was her very existence that they attacked.

She was never good. She was programmed to mean. She was never meant to be good.

She was programmed to be terrible, to be nothing, to be a….

A….

A loser.

And their constant yells and jeers when she arrived at the starting line was always there to remind her.

Taffyta might have played a good game but there was no hiding it. She was starting to chip away, little by little, piece by piece.

Like a piece of stale candy.

She was losing focus, losing concentration. Random roster racers were no longer fun to her because she no longer wanted to be there.

Why would she want to be there? She was always surrounded by those who were there to remind her of her 'place'.

And her place was always behind Vanellope.

Because she wasn't like Vanellope, she was always destined to be the loser.

The brat.

The bully.

She pulled her car out into the line-up, pulling up right beside Vanellope.

The tiny candy people cheered, as usual, but their sweet laughter and shouts were all but drowned out by now.

She could ready hear them. Yelling, screaming, laughing.

They wanted her to hear there shouts, they wanted her to hear how they felt.

And she felt it.

She gripped harder onto the steering wheel, her heart pounding and her blood boiling.

She hated this. She hated it so much.

She hated racing, she hated the crowds, she hated….

She hated….

She hated herself.

Three! Two! One!

GO!

Off like a start the children went, the sugar-filled dust billowing up into the air as tires met road. Vanellope took the lead but Taffyta was right on her heels. The raven-haired racer looked back, a grin on her face but it was quickly wiped away when she peered into Taffyta's eyes.

They were burning, filled with such anger and sadness.

"What's up with Taffyta?" the girl thought to herself, feeling a bit of a shiver run down her spine. She knew the strawberry racer was hot headed but she had never seen such a glint like that before. Taffyta pulled aside the vanilla racer but her focus was still aimed right ahead. It was if she didn't even know that Vanellope was right beside her.

"Hey, arcade ta Taffy-Butt!"

Shut up.

"Taffyta, I know you can hear!"

Stop it.

"Taffyta, say somethin'! I'm worried!"

Worried? Why are you worried?

I'm just a brat after all.

Taffyta SLAMMED her foot upon the gas, taking off faster than lightening.

PINK lightening of course.

Vanellope blinked as she watched the girl go ahead but she quickly followed! This was a race after all. Taffyta caught sight of the race behind her.

She knew what was coming up.

The GLITCH.

She didn't know what was worse; the fact that people rubbed it in her face that Vanellope had POWERS over the others or the fact they got mad at her when she found a way to go around it.

It was always something.

When the other racers learned a trick or two to master around it, they always got booed.

And of course, when it was TAFFYTA'S actions that did it, she got it the worse.

What did they expect the racers to do? Just LET Vanellope win every race?

Apparently so.

Apparently they WANTED the others to loose.

But Taffyta wasn't having that anymore. At least she could TRY.

A power-up glow ahead, it was calling her name but Vanellope was inching closer to her. She knew the sounds, the feeling, the lights of the glitch and per the norm it happened.

*GLITCH!*

Vanellope was getting closer but Taffyta had some tricks up her sleeve.

She just had to concentrate, she just had to focus.

But their voices.

Taffyta Muttonflub!

Lookin' stupid in pink!

Cry baby, cry baby!

Puh, I bet she teamed up with Turbo since she KNEW she would NEVER be as awesome as Vanellope!

Lil cheater!

She wanted them to stop, but then never did.

And the more she thought….

"I am NOT a cry baby!"

The harder she drove.

She heard Vanellope glitching again but there was no mercy. She was tired of sitting by and letting things 'slide'. If people wanted a race, they were going to get one.

Vanellope glitched again, moving closer and closer to the power-up! The raven racer felt as if she could just reach out and touch it but then-!

*BREEEEEEEEEP!*

"WHOA!"

Rule one of Sugar Rush, anything goes.

Rule two?

Anything goes…including sudden improvising using one's horn.

Vanellope felt as if she had LAUNCHED herself out of her own seat as she heard Taffyta's horn blaring next to her.

Why hadn't she done this for YEARS?

The strawberry race barreled into the power-up!

GUMMIE BEAR-IT ALL!

Oh, a nice one!

Sparkles and flashes came from the small kart as a large cannon appeared atop it. Turning around, Taffyta aimed her cannon at the cars that were coming right up the bend and with one good aim.

*BOOM!*

Gummie bears EVERYWHERE!

And what was the major effect of that?

With the combination of the hot tires and the sticky candy, the other racers quickly found themselves, for the lack of better terms, unable to bare how slow they were going, the gooey mass of melted candy making their karts run slow.

"Yeee-UK!" said Vanellope, her nose twitching at the smell of burning sugar "Remind me again why our programmers thought it was funny to torture us like this!"

And like that, Taffyta was off in a flash not even looking back once to see if anyone was behind her. She just wanted to cross that finish line, to get things over with….

It was close, it was close….

*GLITCH!*

Vanellope?

Of course.

The racer knew she only had a few glitches left but with the combination of how many she had used with the addition of her still melty tires, the neck-n-neck race was looking a lot harder than she first thought. She tried to move faster but the sudden CLUNK of her engine spelt disaster.

"Whoops!" eeped Vanellope, realizing she had put too much stress on her cart "C'mon baby, don't let me down now!"

Must of have been a fruit leather belt inside, a perfect explanation to why the engine was no smoking!

"OOOOH! Looks like Von Schweetz has a lil trouble!" said the announcer, the audience on baited breath as they looked at the two racers "It's gonna be close folks, it's gonna be CLOSE!"

Close wasn't even good enough to describe it! Vanellope pushed harder and harder; she had to time her glitch JUST RIGHT or run the risk of wasting it but at the rate her cart was going.

"Now or later? NOW OR LATER?"

The choice was PAINFUL!

"URGH! NOW!"

*GLITCH!*

Vanellope was even CLOSER to Taffyta but once again the raven racer saw that Taffyta was transfixed not on her but on the finishing line ahead. Any other day, this would have been normal but with the way Taffyta had been acting?

It was…a little scary.

"Taffyta! TAFFYTA!" Vanellope shouted "Oh, I know this thing ain't makin' that much noise! TALK TA ME!"

Nothing.

Just silence and anger.

So close, so close!

"Oooh, shouldn't have used that up…." Vanellope cursed to herself, feeling that she was losing a bit of control of her cart. It felt unstable in her hands and she tried to ease up on the speed but by now it was too late. Something else gave way from underneath and with a large *KA-BOOM!* and a scream, Vanellope found that she was now unable to control her cart!

And with luck, who should she run into?

Taffyta of course!

The other racer screamed as she was struck, Vanellope hooking onto the side of her own vehicle.

"Whoa, whoa! Steady, STEADY!" Vanellope said, hoping in vain that maybe THIS could get a word from the other racer but none came.

Screams came but not words.

Get in control, Taffyta! GET IN CONTROL!

The girl hooked a hard left, the wheels BURNING and SQUEALING but it was perfectly timed. Pink Lightening was turned to the front, even if it were hooked onto Vanellope's cart. Vanellope on the other hand didn't like where things were going with this. Both girls were moving MUCH too fast for their own good and whoever crossed the finish line first would only wind up being SMASHED on the wall.

"Taffyta! Slow down!"

NEVER!

"GOBS! CAN YA HEAR ME!?"

I don't want to!

Vanellope gasped in horror, seeing the walls getting closer and closer! Yeah, Taffyta was going to 'win' alright but her prize would be a face full of metal, cement, and other not-nice things.

Vanellope knew what she had to do.

Taffyta was just blind with anger at this point, the deafening screech of her tires surrounding her but then-!

A yank?

"What tha-?!"

*GLITCH!*

Taffyta screamed as she felt herself being pulled upwards and not a second later, both girls ROLLED onto the ground, Taffyta crossing the finish line but…

*BOOOOOOM!*

Both girls' carts crashed into the stands and erupted into flames, several people running for their lives as the fire increased. Vanellope coughed as she sat up, shaking a bit and feeling sick to her stomach at what she saw.

She and other kids had been in quite a few crashes but nothing like that.

What would THAT have felt like?

"Taffyta?!" the girl gasped "Are ya ok-?"

"DON'T…say anything."

"Whoa, what was that for?"

A glare. A cold, ANGRY glare.

That was all Vanellope got from the pink racer, her cracked helmet showing forth furious eyes.

"Why did you DO that?!"

"D-Do what?!"

Taffyta stood on her feet, throat tight in anger "Why did you-?! I COULD HAVE-! I WAS ALMOST-!"

"Hey, hey! Simmer down!" said Vanellope, getting on her won feet "Taff, was winnin' really worth…."

The racers looked over, the smoldering wreckage of both their cars sending great billowing clouds of black smoke into the air.

"Was it really worth THAT?!"

"We could have regenerated…." The pink racer said in an annoyed grunt, removing her helmet "We always do so don't act like-!"

"Taffyta, I'm just worried about ya!" Vanellope cut in, lowering the racer's hands "I mean, GEEZE! Your FLYIN' even more than what's POSSIBLE here!"

"I'M AN EXCELLENT DRIVER!" Taffyta roared, throwing her helmet down. Vanellope jumped back, not sure what was going on.

"When did I imply that ya WEREN'T?!"

"Look, I had everything in control okay?!" the pink racer growled "I know we were caught but if ya had just given me time, if ya had just TRUSTED ME, I would have been able ta spin us out before we cr-!"

"Urgh, what did ya do?!"

That wasn't the voice of anyone from Sugar Rush.

Both girls looked over, seeing a few other characters marching over.

And they did NOT look happy.

"Um, ya guys okay?" said Vanellope "I know that blast was BIG so if any of ya need help, ya can go over ta tha clinic to-!"

"We're not hurt!" said one character, a cyclops girl, shouted and looking none too pleased "But we could have been no thanks to HER!"

Vanellope stepped forward, sensing that the crowd was getting ugly "Hey, ya know tha races here can get INTENSE but there is no reason ta blame people for this so just chill. I'LL personally see to any damage that was caused here so-!"

A loud laugh was heard from the crowd "Ya wanna help us? Get rid of MUTTONFLUB over there!"

Vanellope jolted back "'SCUSE ME?"

"Ha, if she weren't so jealous I bet none of this would have happened!"

"I bet she wouldn't have even made it across the finish line!"

"Just like always?"

"Just like always!"

And so it began.

Taffyta said nothing, looming back in the shadows of Vanellope as the crowd began to go about their daily routine on her.

She couldn't drive, she was boring.

She was just Taffyta.

And as everyone knew, Taffyta was the WORST racer in Sugar Rush.

No, in ANY racing game!

Forget racing games.

Taffyta Muttonfudge was the worst character, PERIOD.

"So, have fun winnin' first place?" jeered another patron "Wanna take your first place trophy? Its waiting right there for ya!"

"Oooh, I think she's gonna cry!"

"Then I guess we did our job!"

"HEY HEY HEY!" cried Vanellope, pushing a few people back "No a'that! We're not havin' that here! Its bad enough we still hafta deal with a crash but-!"

"Nelly, stop."

The raven racer turned around, Taffyta placing a heavy hand on her shoulder. If Vanellope thought the crowd scared her, the look on Taffyta's face pushed that out of the way. Maybe she had EXPECTED her to cry but crying would have been welcomed compared to the dark gaze she was getting.

"Um, Taff?"

"Don't waste your time coverin' for me…." The girl said, her tone surprisingly calm "I know this was my fault, kay? Is that what everyone wants ta hear?"

The crowd was silent but they still made it clear that Taffyta wasn't welcomed around them. Vanellope felt a bit pressed in the moment, confused to what was actually going on around her. She knew she had to contend with the crowd but Taffyta was telling her that things were alright, that she wasn't bothered.

Liar, liar. Racer on fire.

"W-wait, what do ya mean by th-?"

"I still won right?"

"T-technically, yeah…" Vanellope said, looking to the side "Your car DID cross first an' even after that, ya were tha one who ROLLED past the line so-!"

"I'll take my trophy…"

Taffyta strutted up to the stands, taking the first place trophy but instead of waiting for the others to take their own she walked off, leaving racers, fans, and spectators alike to wonder.

Just what had happened?

The girl walked. She walked for mile and miles away from the track. She didn't want to hear it, she didn't want to see it.

She didn't want anything to do with it.

But the trophy reminded clutched in her hands, a reminder that as much as she hated that place she had still gone there. She had still raced.

But it felt empty, hollow, worthless.

Like her?

Like her.

She stood at the edge of the Mint Cliffs, the wind blowing through her hair as she looked down at the strawberry soda sea. She could smell the fizzy pop hitting her nose but even with her favorite flavor around her, she didn't feel any better.

If anything, she felt worse.

Strawberries.

Like her.

And according to the arcade, anything that she liked, anything like her….

Was bad.

She looked at the trophy, the golden luster showing forth a girl as lifeless as the code that filled her. She hated that face, she hated those eyes.

She didn't know what else to think, the voices of others surrounding her.

One tear.

Just one.

Thank the programmers she had kept herself from crying when she was with the others. If she had, she would have never heard the end of it.

She clutched the trophy in her tiny hands, gloves squeaking against gold.

What was the point of such an article if she no longer desired the value of it as she had before in her life.

She drew an arm back….

And tossed the trophy into the sea.