Van eventually slowed to a near crawl and figured that glancing behind her back was no longer necessary. She took the time to wipe the blood off her forehead with her sleeve and carefully glanced at her hands. "Looks… puffy," she noted with just a hint of worry. The blood from earlier had dried up, but it was still very much present.

She glanced around and noted that she was on yet another random part of the net. Various characters and avatars weaved around her, but otherwise, she went unnoticed. She slumped onto the floor again and closed her eyes. The contract says I'm near at least. Never been here, though. It wasn't that uncommon to find undiscovered sectors on the internet being the internet and all. The place was gigantic and always expanding.

"It looks sort of… bright?" she mumbled while glancing around.

She read a giant neon sign blasting pink into the void that read BuzzTube an Algorithm for YouTube. She had a vague recollection of what it was for, but never really had a reason to come around that place. In fact, unlike most internet users, a trendy looking place like BuzzTube was fairly dangerous for her.

Her right eye twitched and she moaned. "Stupid virus scanners."

In fact, Van knew she wasn't welcome in most places. Her unstable code could easily be mistaken for a virus. Small websites and the odd game here and there were easy to get through. Firewalls are a cakewalk, she thought with a tiny smirk. Her boss had shown her how to get through them.

Not that I should have to! I'm not a virus!

That thought rang more true than any other. But wishes weren't real, the internet wasn't a fairy tale and she knew that. Of all the places to go, BuzzTube and YouTube were controlled by Google who was very paranoid about security. She couldn't get into any of their sites without a virus scanner deleting her.

"But Boss knows that…" she mumbled while looking around. "So why come here?"

After a quick trip around the outside of the building, she eventually found the correct spot to meet for the contract. Growing a bit bored and very tired, she slumped up to a wall and slowly lowered herself to the ground. There, everything felt almost at peace. It was cold, sure, but peaceful, where no one could bother her. Even if her whole body ached, it still felt good to just relax.

"Kid, what the hey are you doing down there?"

Van mumbled something incomprehensible and glanced up. Her eyes blinked a few times until her fuzzy sight finally focused. Standing before her was none other than a strange-looking glowing blue lady. That was the best description she could muster up and she had no doubt that whoever she was, she wasn't her contact.

"Uh, resting," Van said with a shrug.

"Uh, yeah. I can see that, baby. Do you wanna come inside?"

Immediately red flags went off; it wasn't common for others to up and invite her into anywhere. Van squinted her eyes and studied her suspiciously. While she did this, the strange woman did the same.

"Girl, what happened to you… well, you? Is that blood?!"

Van had enough and rolled her eyes, took a deep breath, and shocked the woman by spitting on the floor. "Look, lady, I think you got me mixed up with someone else. I'm waiting for someone here," she said while her right hand lifted up a blinking quest contract which the woman eyed. "So beat it," Van said and looked away.

Annoyingly, she could still sense the presence of the overbearing woman who continued to stare. Van kept staring at the blinking item and didn't dare lookup.

"You really aren't her, are you?"

With a very heavy sigh, Van blinked and glanced up at the woman and scowled. "I don't know who this 'her' is, but I'm gonna wager a guess and-" whatever Van tried to get out was interrupted as her body glitched in various places. A particular painful sting dotted every fiber of her being and she had to resist the urge not to cry. "Dammit! Stupid, fucken, glitches!"

No longer caring about appearances, Van smacked her head several times, but it was no use. Raw, unbridled pain coursed through her body as she continued to smack herself over and over. At one point, she switched to pounding her fists into her chest until the bright red pixelated mess that was her body stabilized. When it was over with, she panted for air and gently closed her eyes.

"T- that was fun," she stuttered. "If you're still standing there, I'm not who you're looking for. Goodbye."

"Honey, do you wanna come inside and talk about this? I can give you a safe place to rest."

"I'm fine here."

"You don't look fine," the woman pointed out.

Van felt one of her eyes twitch in annoyance. "Yeah, and you look like a blue pixie from an abandoned game."

"Hmm, point taken I guess. Never been very fond of what I got, but it was what I was programmed with. But you seem like you really need some help here."

Van's hand raised into the air, telling her to stop talking. "What I need is for you to get back to your stupid website or whatever and piss off! You're giving me a headache!"

But she didn't even budge, much to her annoyance. "You from an arcade, from a game called Sugar Rush? Hmm?"

Another eye twitch. Van was seething at the woman. "Y- you-"

"Are you lost? Get disconnected from it?"

Van held her head and whimpered. Memories started flying by at an impossible rate. Her eyes closed tightly and she felt it very difficult to breathe or to focus on anything.

Stay Sweet!

It's time for The Swizz to race! Let's go, princess!

I'm glad you're my friend, Vanellope.

Her body ached as she continued to shake on the ground. She could sense various game and internet characters gathering, no doubt to stare and point and laugh. But the memories kept coming! Over and over they continued their torment and no matter how hard she tried, they would never stop.

STOP! she tried thinking, but that mere thought was drowned away by all the noise.

We need to get out of here! Gather everyone! The game's being shut down!

The arcade is closing, Vanellope. This is it, we need to leave.

I love you and I always will.

The pain was so unbearable, she felt her body go almost numb which was a welcome feeling. But still, her brain continued to torment her. "M- make it stop!" she screamed.

"Sorry girl, this is for your own good!"

For a split second, Van recognized that the back of her head had been struck and that her glitching had ceased. The pain was still there, but soon she knew no more.

"I've been informed by my associates of your… unique situation."

Vanellope and her fellow Sugar Rush Racers all stood together as a group. The details of the stranger's office, if it could even be called that, were murky and fuzzy. But Vanellope could see the strange digital appreciation, clear as day. It was best described as a silhouette of a human skull who deformed and animated as it spoke, but only just. Every once in a while, the hologram that made up the skull would flicker in an unstable manner before righting itself, only to shift the Skull's previous emotion to something else. It was eerie, to say the least.

"That's a funny way of saying some creep tried to take over our game and ruined it for everyone!" A girl screamed from behind them. Vanellope glanced behind her and spotted none other than Jubilenna Bing-Bing, standing there with a scowl on her face while her fists shook with raw anger. When the two met eyes, Jubilenna looked away in shame, and Vanellope could only frown.

"Forgive my… choices of words," the hologram said while it flickered from a joyful smirk to a scowling frown. "My… apologies," it said. Every pause in his words caused the image to flicker. "But I believe we can all form a mutually… beneficial relationship."

"We don't have a real reason to tr-" Vanellope tried to finish but a particularly painful glitch caused her entire body to quake. Everything got fuzzy and she felt incredibly queasy. She felt a few of the racer's hands on her shoulder which made her feel a bit better, but not much. "To trust you…"

The skull figure was silent for a while, perhaps too long. All the while it shifted through various emotions as if that were its way of processing things. "I suppose not, but we've provided you all shelter and haven't harmed you. Surely that goes a long way to trust. No?"

"Look, we're thankful for what you did for us. But, frankly, we don't see a reason to stick around anymore," Taffyta Muttonfudge said after stepping forward.

Took the words right out of my mouth, Vanellopoe thought. Some leader I am. I can't even speak up when I need to!

"Let me ask you this at least," the skull exclaimed as the racers seemed ready to leave. "What is it that you… children desire most? The answer may be… obvious, but I'd like to hear it from your mouths."

"Well, that's a dumb question. Duh, we wanna go home," one of the boys said, one Rancis.

"To Sugar Rush? To your old arcade machine. To live the glory days of… racing and to serve your… purpose?"

"It's a dumb fantasy, buster. We get it," Taffyta said, sounding quite annoyed.

The skull shifted through several emotions before seeming to go for broke with a massive grin. "Nothing is impossible, little lady. Though to achieve your goals, you may need to… adjust your expectations."

Vanellope sighed and shook her head. "That sounds a lot like wishful thinking. Why should we trust you? We know how the i- internet w- works," she said while her body glitched some more. Taffyta put her hand on her shoulder, but Vanellope gently brushed it off. "N- no one does something for free!"

"Quite right. I propose an exchange. I and my associates shall work toward bringing you back to your home in a… manner of speaking. And you racers, meanwhile, work for us. You will have shelter, work, and a purpose. Along with… payment. Does that sound fair?"

"I don't I-"

"If anything the shelter alone should be… adequate accommodation. The payment is merely a bonus."

Vanellope didn't even have the will to reply. She glanced at her fellow racers, a shameful expression etched on her features and shrugged.

Another racer, one Adorabeezle Winterpop stepped forward and shook her head. "A manner of speaking isn't the same as the real thing. We have to try and find another arcade, one with a Sugar Rush machine. We can't waste time working for you, bub."

"An interesting solution to your problem. However, the odds of finding such a place through the vast internet on your own are slim to none. You are all… free to leave. But it would not be a wise decision. This… place, the internet is far larger than the… facade outside would have you all believe. You could be searching for decades and still not find what you need. Even if you did manage, by some… miracle to find your goal. Arcades are on a downward spiral. Humans are using them less and less. Nothing lasts forever… but I do have a solution of sorts."

Vanellope saw the always proud Adorabeezle look away, deep in thought. She had no rebuttal.

"Besides, you have yet to hear my full proposal."

Vanellope felt Taffyta arms on her, supporting her. Without even fully realizing it, she had grown dizzy. She hated feeling this way, she was weak. Her glitching had taken a great deal out of her.

"And that is?" Taffyta asked.

The skull's image changed to that of a smirk. "Are you all perhaps familiar with emulators?"

It took Van several minutes to fully comprehend that she was even awake. Her eyes remained closed and she felt so exhausted she nearly passed out a second time, but she held on.

Red flags went off in Van's head. She struggled to get up, to do something, to even blink but she could barely bring herself to breath. Some heavy footsteps could be heard to her side along with a sighing voice.

"It took us a while to get you inside. You're lucky my little slice of heaven doesn't use the good virus scanners, or you'd be history, kid."

Van clenched her fist, trying to muster up all her strength, but all it did was make her dizzy. Which was an incredibly unpleasant feeling when you were already laying down. She moaned and the strange woman from earlier sighed.

"I think I can help you. Mind you I'm not certain, but pretty sure. You'll just have to trust me."

Have to trust me… have to trust me… Those words echoed in Van's mind like a fresh wound that continued to bleed. Struggling with the pain and her ever-increasing dizziness, Van lifted her right hand and gently clenched her heart. The kind of pain she felt was different. It wasn't raw and it certainly wasn't from glitching, no. It was an ache, an old wound that caused her heart to beat faster and faster, spiraling out of control. Her fight-or-flight response felt like it was on fire, begging her to do both. To run and flee and then run some more.

"I mean, trust can go a long-"

Using her free hand, Van slapped the woman's arm away and screamed. "Get the hell away from me! I told you to leave me alone. I said to leave me be and I was fine. I'm fi- fine, got it?!"

She stood up and suddenly the world felt incredibly fuzzy as her mind tried to make sense of up and down. So dizzy…

"Girl, you can't just… You... Lay down right now! You're hurt!"

Van spit on the ground again, causing a miniature pool of blood to form. She seethed up at the strange woman and slowly backed up.

"If you take one step closer I swear on my dead cabinet that I'll rip your code out!"

Van grabbed her bag and darted out of the strange place in a hurry. She felt exhausted, angry and incredibly dizzy. But one thought drove her to keep going, escape. She somehow was able to exit the web page without so much as a virus scan and took the opportunity to jump over the edge of a balcony barrier, falling down three stories before swiftly landing on her feet. She ran and ran. Details and faces meant nothing, it was all a dizzy blur. She just had to escape.

Van collapsed in a random alleyway. She was beyond exhausted. The raw anger she felt toward the blue stranger was nothing when weighed against her physical pain. She spit up some blood on the ground and whimpered. "Trust? Stupid internet."

No one on the internet could be trusted. That was rule number one. Sure, she had acquaintances in some games like Fallout that she was civil to, but they weren't friends. "The only reason I trust Boss is that he's never betrayed me."

There was also the small fear that he may or that he had in the past, but as far as she could judge, Boss was mostly trustworthy. But the lot on the internet were all scum, as far as she cared.

"Little One, are you in?"

Van moaned and carefully dug in her backpack for a portable radio. After several moments of stumbling and dizzy episodes, she found it. "Y- yeah Boss. I'm in."

"Good. Are you unharmed?"

"Pfft, yeah. Stupid blue lady thing tried to kidnap me. I got away."

There was a long pause, no doubt her Boss had been calculating things. "Are you certain it was a kidnapping?"

Van squinted her eyes at the internet phone and resisted a very powerful urge to scowl. "It sure felt like it!"

"Then explain to me what happened. Please."

Van moaned and rubbed the back of her head. "I don't even remember what happened before I woke up! This mission's a disaster, boss!" And it was true, her memories felt fuzzy.

Even saying that much drained what little energy she had. Around her, the world started to spin and she felt more than just woozy. It almost felt good, like parts of her mind were being detached from all of the pain and she was floating. Heh, my hands look pretty, she thought airily.

"Now now, mistakes happen. The contact for that contract has been redirected to a new location. If I'm not mistaken, you are near. That is if you wish to finish it? I can always have an associate take over for you? No harm is done. You can even rest at my place… if you'd like. I know the accommodations aren't very satisfactory, but surely you can manage?"

Trying not to get lost in the happy haze, Van shook her head and the world almost righted itself. "N- no s- it's fine," she slurred. "It doesn't look that far. And I'm not tired," she exclaimed with a tad more energy.

"It's your choice to make. But just know that the… offer is on the table."

She shut the radio down and slowly stood. As she did, the world became even more confusing. "Hmm, need to check the map," she mumbled.

It didn't take her that long to find the package. After a few odd glances from the internet store, they gladly relinquished the package and she quickly got out of there.

The instructions on the contract were skimmed and she realized that she was mostly in the right area. "Wants me to go to some arcade. Litwaks? Whatever."

Just the very word, arcade, used to rouse excitement in her. Now she just felt numb to it all. She stumbled her way forward like a drunk hobo, but something kept her going. I feel so good, she thought happily. She cracked a tiny smile and continued to trudge forward uncoordinated. Part of her even considered downing her last comfort can, but that would be silly. "Still on the web," she mumbled and then broke down giggling.

As she walked, she waved her hands about and liked how they duplicated themselves. LIke she wasn't really there. "Did I take it or something?"

She reached into her bag and found the prized canister, still sealed and unused. "No. So weird."

Everything around her body felt heavy. Just lifting the canister may as well have weighed a million pounds. "Feel so… w- weird," she mumbled.

After a few more steps, her whole body tripped over something and she went tumbling into somebody. Her canister flew off into another direction, but she felt too dizzy to care.

"S- sorry…" she whispered.

"Oh goodness, it's no problem."

Her vision still blurry, Van could just barely make out a slightly taller game character who seemed almost entirely decked out in something white. "Who are you?" My tongue feels tingly.

"The name's Turbo, little girl. Hmm, you don't look so good."

The stubby man called Turbo surprised Van by helping her onto her feet. "But I feel good," she said, putting extra emphasis on the last word. It was true, everything felt amazing!

"I, uh, see that. Well, miss Good. Where ya headin'?"

Van slowly blinked as her sluggish, hazy brain tried to come up with a reply. "L- Litwaks Arfcade!" she lisped. That didn't sound right, she thought and giggled again.

Turbo's eyes widened in shock. "An arcade you say? May, I haven't been in one in ages and ages. You wouldn't mind if I accompanied you, would you?"

"Uh… no?"

"Splendid!"

"W- wait," Van said and reached into her pack. Feels so good, but there has to be something wrong with me, she thought. Surprised that she even had that much lucidity to think straight.

After several failed attempts at rummaging around, her fingers finally clutched a small device. She brought it up to her mouth and inhaled deeply. At once, everything became perfectly clear. All the fuzziness and giddy feelings vanished, replaced with nothing but herself. She felt immense shame, knowing that she had been parading around the internet like some drunk clown, probably drooling on herself. She remembered what happened the night before and knew why she did it.

The exhaustion and immense pain vanished, replaced with new found energy. She took a deep breath and smiled slightly. "B- better."

"Oh, my lads, what in the heck was that?"

"X-Cell. It's from Fallout. I don't use them that much, you can get addicted. But it made me feel so much better," she said, her eyes closed. She shuddered and felt an immense feeling of euphoria, followed by even more clarity as the drug pumped its way through her code.

"Uh-huh. Th- that seems kind of dangerous, kid."

She blinked and examined the spent drug in her hands. They are dangerous, she thought. She couldn't just outright deny that.

"Look, I don't know how you got those, but take it from a real racer. Drugs are for losers. Heh, like we all used to say: SAY NO TO DRUGS. Granted, I think they were merely talking about the users and not us game characters, but you get the point. Right?"

A racer? That's interesting, she thought. Then she slowly shook her head. "Uh, yeah. It's Turbo right?" she asked and he quickly nodded. "I gotta go finish my mission. Thanks for the advice and… helping me up," she said feeling quite embarrassed. "See ya," she said and walked off to pick up her comfort can.

"Wait, wait, wait!" She heard the funny-sounding man run-up to her and she paused, placing her hands on her hips. "I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind taking me to this arcade? I promise I don't bite," he said and gave her a creeping looking grin. His teeth had yellowed significantly, or perhaps that's how he had been programmed.

"I don't have any reason to trust you," Van said. She took a better glance at his clothing and almost smirked. "You really do look like a racer, er sort of." The man smiled even brighter but Van shook her head. "I'm sorry, I have to go."

She took a few steps and nearly tripped flat on her face, only to be caught by Turbo himself. "Woah there. Look, I don't mean any harm and you're clearly exhausted. If you really need to do this mission of yours, how about I help? I can just walk ya there, no problem."

"No thanks," she mumbled but already she could feel the previous X-Cell wear off somewhat. She knew they didn't last forever.

She tried again, this time getting much further, only to trip yet again. She hated to admit it, but Turbo's hands supporting her oddly felt soothing.

"Think of it as payment? Yeah, that's what seems fair. No?"

Van looked away rather annoyed. "What do you mean?"

"Simple. I guide you to this arcade and in exchange, well, as silly as it sounds. You let me come with. I've been itching to visit one for so long, kid. You have no idea. Sound fair?"

Hmm, I do kind of need him. While it was true that no one could be trusted, as far as she was concerned, trade could at least be reasonable. You wanted something on the internet, you paid for it. She had something he wanted and she needed his help. She took a deep breath and finally nodded.

"Fine, I guess. Err, thanks," she said very quietly.

"Turbo Tastic! Then let's- Wait a minute!"

"What?"

"I don't even know your name, silly!"

She blushed and nodded. "Oh, heh. Just call me Van, Turbo."

"Hmm, something tells me that's not quite your real name. Nickname?"

"Yep," she said, already sounding more annoyed.

"Right right, well, let's get to it, Van."

The ride to Litwak Arcade's modem was awkward to say the least. Turbo would occasionally glance in Van's direction, but she didn't so much as blink.

"You know, not quite used to this new fangled tech. When my game was new, all we had was a trolly that got you in and out of the power strip."

"Hmm," Van mumbled and gave a small nod. Though she wasn't really listening. I feel so tired.

"'Course, I always thought it would be a race car. You know, it took me weeks to work up the courage just to leave! Oh, that was forever ago though."

"Right."

She wanted to be angry or annoyed at Turbo for breaking the silence, but then she just felt horribly conflicted. Should she be angry that the situation was so awkward? Annoyed that Turbo kept talking? Or both for just how exhausted she was.

I'm so tired.

"I hope you don't mind if I blabber. I've been told I can go too far in that regard, you know? At least by my racing buddies. Boy, I think I'd go crazy without them."

At that moment, Van wanted nothing more than to chug her comfort can. It became an awful itch. She couldn't stop herself from scratching her legs, which became even itchier as time grew on.

"'Course, after our game broke down, all we had was each other. Our arcade was kind of on the way out so we escaped to the internet. But we stayed friends, just us three. I would have invited them, but I wanna make sure it's safe you know."

Van's eye twitched and she started breathing erratically. All we had was each other.

"Ah, but I'd do anything for those two numbskulls. Sometimes, kid, all you got is your friends. Heh, you know I didn't even ask. What game were you part of?"

Van felt her hand hastily reach for her chest. She felt her heart beating rapidly out of control. "S- Sugar Rush," she stuttered.

"Sugar Rush? I think I've heard of that! Go-Kart racing game right?!"

Her face went pale and she slowly nodded.

"Got a candy and dessert theme to it? Well, it had better for a name called Sugar Rush!"

I'm so tired…

"I got to visit that game once. Ho boy, I'd never seen so much food in one place! Such a wonderful day! I think those giant gumdrops in the icing lakes were my favorite. So much sugar…" he said while licking his lips. His voice sounded distant but with a tiny hint of elation.

She quickly nodded and tried not to think about it. She wanted to scream at Turbo to shut his trap, but she barely had the energy to stand, let alone yell.

"Guess it doesn't take a genius to tell that you're no longer, you know, part of that?"

Van bit her lip to the point of bleeding. She felt a single tear leak from her eye and she quickly shook her head.

"Oh goodness. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to open an old wound. Are you okay? You've barely said anything..."

Van whimpered and closed her eyes. She tried to will the dark thoughts away. It was almost like the opposite of serendipity. "I'm so tired. I've tried and tried to push forward for so long."

"Oh goodness! Do I know how that feels!"

"I don't even know how I got here," she mumbled just as the digital vehicle dropped them off at their final destination.

Turbo looked momentarily confused. "You don't? You traveled here with… oh, you're not talking literally, are you?"

Van shook her head. "I tried and I tried. I fought for so long. I'm just so tired," she said just as tears started to pool around her eyes.

She could sense Turbo eyeing her, but for once he said nothing as if he knew she needed to get this out. The duo stepped out onto the landing platform inside the modem and stopped walking entirely.

"We tried to stay together. S- some days I didn't even eat or sleep. I'm so tired. But I had to. I just kept telling myself one more day. One more job and it would be finished. I'm so tired."

She sensed Turbo looking around the place, maybe trying to find the exit. But she kept talking.

"After the first of us disappeared, I fought harder," she said and carefully took a seat on the cold floor, right next to the increasingly confused man. "We all did. I'm so tired," she repeated. Her body started to shake and again everything felt dizzy and fuzzy. Her voice began to crack, which made her feel awful. Like she'd given up.

"If I could just keep going. I'd do anything for them and I tried so hard," she said and started to break down. She could hear herself crying and whimpering. But she felt numb; the pain that tears were meant to ease just wasn't coming. "I'm so tired… I'm so ti- tired," she said with a large hiccup. Tears and snot went everywhere. She wanted desperately to just sleep somewhere safe, but that was an impossibility.

Turbo, for his part, leaned down and looked her straight in the eye. "Child. I don't know what pain you've been through. But it really sounds like you've been… holding things in."

"Y- yeah," she said and she felt her body glitch. The stinging pain may as well have felt like nothing.

"Jumping quarters! Did you glitch?!"

Turbo backed away in fear and she quietly nodded. A whining noise could be heard coming from her. "Ye- yes. I glitch, okay?!." She felt her breathing become worse, ragged even. Becoming faster and faster. "It happened because I stayed too long! But I had to! I had to, for them!" she screamed.

After that, Van couldn't work up the nerves to say anything else. She wept and cried and howled and sniffled. She could hardly even remember the last time she had said so much, and to a stranger no less! So tired…

She felt Turbo's hand awkwardly try to reach out to her, but once she glitched again he quickly pulled back in fright.

"J- just go," she mumbled.

"I don't think… that is to say-"

She sniffled again and took a very hasty, shuddering breath. "O- our trade is done. Just please leave me alone."

Van stared off into space. Her constant shed of tears showed no sign of stopping; she wasn't even sure herself if she could make them stop. Slowly, very slowly, Turbo stepped away. With every step, she could sense the man growing more and more distant until she heard a tiny electric hitch as he disappeared into the socket of the modem.

For a few minutes, the crying actually helped her feel better. She felt guilty for giving in, but she couldn't deny the relief the tears eventually brought. Even if it was very little.

"S- so tired," she said and glanced around. Do I even care about this mission?

She dropped her bag to the ground with a thud and rummaged through it. Carefully, she lifted up the package, but a shiny glint caught her eye. The awful itch returned and she couldn't help but lick her lips. Her hands shook and she bit her lip again, hard.

So tired…

Van wanted nothing more than to give in. She was on an internet router, not comfortable, but probably the safest place you could be. Even if she had been high off her butt on the stuff. There would be no harm in downing one.

Except for me, she reminded herself. Suddenly an addicting, hopeful mind turned sour. Everything came crashing down and the maddening depression returned full force. She grabbed her hair and screamed. It was maddening, what she felt when she glanced at the can. She knew they were awful for her and just what they were doing to her. Boss knew just the same, but he was perfectly fine using them as her payment!

Biting into her now blood-soaked lip again, she screamed and continued to pull at her hair. I'm so tired of this! Her shaky free hand reached out for the can and she held it toward her mouth. Her whole body shook as fresh sweat coated every last bit of her skin. Her clothes felt heavy, dirty even. At that moment she could sense every rip and tear in her costumed attire. Van could feel all of her bruises and cuts and scrapes and all of the blood.

Her ragged, messy hair felt particularly itchy along with her grimy skin. Her hand continued to shake and for a split second she considered just getting it over with. Just one can, she thought as her free hand hovered over the opening to unseal it.

I'm so tired.

"Van, we can't stay here any longer! We have to leave, now."

She felt her handshake even more as she squeezed the metal container with all of her might. Raw anger and hatred fueled by her memories.

Vanellope glanced back at her friends and shook her head. "Not until I get every last racer out. It's my duty!"

The children racers glanced at one another while the castle grounds started to shake and rumble.

"It's not safe, Van! If we wait too long-"

"Then leave!" Van snapped, making the three jump. "I'm not leaving until I find the last two. Taffyta and Candlehead are still back there!"

Van hesitated just as she was about to gorge the can down. She knew it would be the easiest thing in the world to do. A euphoric escape that promised a blanket and shield from her cold, depressing memories. Suddenly, Van screamed again and chucked the offending can halfway across the modem. The drug exploded upon impact, spilling the precious drugged juices in a bloody red puddle.

Van sank to her knees and wept openly.

It took her a very long time until she stopped. She could feel herself sniffling and hiccuping as the world seemed to momentary right itself. Her dizziness and overbearing exhaustion seemed so far away. And for a quiet moment, everything felt tranquil. She gave a hesitant smile and a very loud and long sniff to the cold air.

Not as tired… she thought. Van was far from happy, but she couldn't deny that the heavy crying was something she desperately needed. Even if her mind had denied it all, her body knew all too well. She took a quick glance at the spilled drug and for the first time in a very long time, she felt proud of herself.

Author's Notes: Another chapter down. I would love to hear some comments on what people think. As always, if anyone is interested in joining a Wreck-It Ralph Fanfic themed server, just send me a PM!