Vanellope's engine roared to life.

This is it, girl. A real race. A true race, she thought. She could sense a growing fear in the pit of her stomach. She glanced around and spotted the other racers which averted their gaze from her.

I can't blame them, she thought with an inward sigh.

It had only been a single day since everything in Sugar Rush was fully restored to normal. The whole place hadn't operated as it should have been for fifteen long years. One could argue it never had operated as it should.

She tried waving to a few of the racers with the warmest smile that she could muster, but all she got in return were awkward smiles and nervous glances.

Stupid Vanellope! First thing I do when it's restored and I joke about executing them? STUPID!

The president of Sugar Rush wanted to bang her head against her steering wheel for being so insensitive, but she couldn't.

THREE

The countdown had already begun. Even as time slowed down and she shifted into gear, time marched relentless onward.

TWO

Being the leader of the game, her vehicle had been positioned in first. Ahead of the pack, ahead of her fellow racers. Ahead of everyone that she was supposed to call a friend. She adjusted her mirror and tried to catch another glance at them, but they shifted their eyes away, making her feel rather uncomfortable.

Focus, girl. It's just a race. You've wanted this for so long… just a race.

ONE

Again she shifted into gear, yet as she did she sensed something off about the whole thing. Her fingers tapped nervously on her dashboard, just waiting for it to say go.

Just a race…

GO! TIME TO RACE!

Vanellope couldn't get past the starting line quick enough. She even suspected the dust from her car knocked back a few of her fellow racers before they too sped off. The first round of obstacles started up just before the others gathered near the first checkpoint.

CHECKPOINT! GUMBALL GORGE!

Vanellope screamed, having to duck her head when a massive red colored ball nearly struck her head on. She breathed to calm her nerves and swerved from left to right, following along the oddly shaped track. As the name implied, it was indeed a massive gorge which forced the other racers to drive neck and neck, their cars perched up along either side of the endless hills while they did their best to maneuver through the nearly endless supply of gumball traps.

The princess of Sugar Rush glanced through her rearview mirror and saw a few racers get struck as they swerved out of control. "That's gotta hurt," she muttered then shifted into a higher gear and sped ahead.

She was still in the lead, though she wasn't about to relax. She knew how quickly that could change with how many random items and weapons which littered the track. Glancing behind her, she saw another fellow racer gunning for the lead: Taffyta Muttonfudge. A strawberry themed racer that usually had a bad attitude. Vanellope smirked and shifted into a higher gear, only narrowly missing a random item up ahead.

Time to show you what a real racer can do, Taffyta!

As her car rammed through the floating transparent box, a tiny hologram appeared just on her hood, sorting through all the weapons the game had. Randomly it landed on a strange looking cannon constructed of candy cane pipes.

UH OH! STICKY SYRUP CANNON!

Still grinning, she swirled her car around and switched to reverse. Upon seeing her new weapon, Taffyta's eyes widened in shock while Vanellope took the opportunity to spray the track in front of her, firing every last drop of the sticky stuff in an effort to stop her. Satisfied that the cannon was used up she turned around back into the lead, gunning ahead.

Smiling smugly to herself, she took a casual glance behind her and grunted in annoyance. Taffyta was still there, very much unaffected.

Of course, I missed her, Taffyta's car's so narrow compared to mine!

Both racers were coming up on the second checkpoint and soon they were neck and neck. Vanellope's face morphed into a fierce determination to win, to best Taffyta at her own game! She glanced over and saw something that made her heart stop; the strawberry coated racer looked scared, frightened even. There were tears in her eyes and they clearly weren't from the wind. Was that the same Taffyta that had pushed her in the mud all those times? That had called her a worthless glitch? The same bully?

Is she hurt?! Taffyta… what's wrong…

Vanellope shook her head and tried to focus on the road.

Can't get distracted now, it's probably fine. Everything is alright, she told herself, though it was more to reassure her own insecurities than anything.

Deep down, she still felt that something was wrong on the track. The two racers, still tied, flashed by the second checkpoint without a hitch.

SECOND CHECKPOINT! HERE COMES THE MYSTERY RACER! LOOK OUT FOR HER WRATH! SHE'LL STOP AT NOTHING TO WIN! WIN! WIN!

"What?!" Both racers screamed in shock.

They both stuck pinkies in their ears to make sure they hadn't been hearing things. And both glanced back fearfully for what they were about to witness. For Taffyta, she wasn't really sure what to expect but for Vanellope, she feared the return of Turbo. Any strange change to their beloved game could spell disaster. What they both saw, however, was probably the oddest thing they had ever witnessed.

Am I dreaming? Did I drink too much root beer at Tappers and this is a dream, right?

A strange looking racer riding on a two-wheeled contraption the likes of which neither racer had ever seen. Black licorice curves and sour candy droplets dotted the sides of the twin-wheeled vehicle along with two peppermint candy wheels surrounded again by dark coated licorice. What made the sight even stranger was the fact that said Mystery Racer wasn't even on the track, she was barreling down on a nearby ice cream mountain and gaining fast.

"V- Vanellope! What the ha- hay is going on!" Taffyta screamed over to her.

Gritted her teeth and expecting the worst, Vanellope gunned into a higher gear. "I don't know! This is my first real race, remember?!"

Taffyta groaned and Vanellope could swear she heard the other racer sniffle, of all things.

She's crying… she thought. Just the mere idea that someone as tough as Taffyta was crying during a race sent shivers of fear up Vanellope's spine.

The strange two-wheeled vehicle launched off the side of the mountain and jettisoned itself forward, landing just between the two in a manner that was both impressive as it was reckless. Her vehicle bounced upwards a few times before balancing out.

Both girls looked over to the strange new racer with a sense of awe and fearfulness. Stopping the race was essentially an impossibility, at that point. The random roster race, the night time race which determined the roster for the game's next "game day" had to go on; it was essentially the law. The gamers which frequented their place in the arcade knew this and if anything screwed with that, it could spell game over for their little slice of heaven.

To go with the strange racer's theme, her helmet and clothes were all mostly black along with a massive helmet which covered her head, eyes, and hair. The strange girl turned to look at each challenger before gunning ahead into first place. Vanellope tried to glitch ahead, but it was too late. The new racer had passed right through a random item box.

UH OH! POP ROCKS CANNON!

The mint themed president gulped and readied herself. You can dodge them, it's no big deal!

But rather than turning back to aim her cannon at either racer, as was expected of her, the mystery girl forced her bike to pop a wheelie and fired. The cannon exploded, forcing out three giant-sized pop rocks and hitting the side of another ice cream mountain dead center.

Taffyta's eyes nearly popped out of her sockets. "Are you crazy?!" she screamed up ahead, but if she heard anything the strange themed racer didn't bother to look back.

The mountain rumbled and shook while the multitude of candy themed rocks exploded over and over again.

Not good! Not good! Vanellope thought, frantically trying to dodge the upcoming avalanche of chocolate and vanilla flavored ice cream goodness.

The girl on the two-wheeled vehicle waved to them then sped up ahead, narrowly missing a massive rock slide of malted milk balls which had started to pool over the track.

The teleporting racer glitched ahead, missing the balls by a few feet, gunning for the back of the dark girl's strange vehicle. Taffyta and the other racers swerved to a stop, wondering what happened to the track.

Everywhere she turned, the racer was one step ahead, always gaining the lead or blocking her from gaining first. After three minutes of this, Vanellope decided she had enough.

"Hey, barf breath! I hope you like second!" she screamed then made the perfect turn, glitching ahead of the sour coated mystery girl and gaining first.

They were seconds away from crossing the finish line. The other racer switched into a higher gear, popped another wheelie and landed right on top of Vanellope's vehicle, causing her to scream and the two to swerve out of control. They twisted and spun in circles, barreling toward a wall.

So dizzy… the raven-haired racer thought, trying to gain control of her kart again. She is crazy… has to be…

Suddenly Vanellope felt the other girl grab her arm and felt a bizarre sensation overtake her body. There was a spark between the two like a light switch had been turned on and bright blue glitch of three-dimensional pixels overtook the two. That's when the mystery racer teleported ahead, somehow taking Vanellope's great superpower and using it against her.

The girl landed in first and she sped off without looking back. Screaming for help, Vanellope's kart kept spinning out of control until it finally stopped, hitting a barrier dead on which caused her to ricochet across the finish line. She finished in second and her vehicle finally slowed, her vision seeing double. She moaned and stumbled out of her car, looking around in confusion while the other racers gathered around.

I could feel her… it was like I could feel her thoughts?!

The announcer declared the winners on the board with Vanellope in second and Taffyta in third place, while every other child looked on in confusion at the declaration of the mystery racer in first.

"Who was that?"

"Where'd she come from?"

"She nearly damaged my kart!"

"Your kart? What about all of ours!"

"We want answers!"

Vanellope groaned all eyes focused on her. "Why are you looking at me? I don't have any answers. I'm just as confused as you are. This is what? My second race on this stupid track."

The other racers looked on in shame, but if she took notice of it, Vanellope didn't bother responding. Some looked as though they wanted to say more, but were holding things in. Ignoring all of the blank stares, Vanellope parked her car over to the maintenance garage and started to walk off toward the castle.

One of the racers stepped forward. "Wait, where are you going?"

Vanellope glanced behind her, recognizing the voice as one Adorabeezle Winterpop, an ice-themed racer that, like most of the other kids in her kingdom, she knew next to nothing about.

Well, I guess I know how she likes to dress. Adorable winter clothes and stuff, Vanellope thought. She shook her head and addressed her, "Simple. I'm going to find some answers, Winter Girl…"

Vanellope marched up to the castle, deep in thought over the strange new racer. New racer? Weird vehicle? And this happens all after the game reset? Can't be coincidence… After Turbo, the denizens of Litwak's Arcade had long stopped believing in silly coincidences when anything funny happened. Even a child like Vanellope knew better than that.

The girl marched up to the castle doors and slowly pushed them open. "Sour Bill, you here?" she called out.

"You rang, your maje- er, presidency?"

As the name implied, Sour Bill was indeed a round shaped sentient candy of the sour variety. A bright green shell with an inner dark layer would be the best way to describe him. He stood off to the side, giving the president a dull looking stare.

"Grab the licorice rope! We got a job to do!"

His eyes widened in shock. "T- the c- code room? B- but Vanellope-"

The girl quieted him down by placing her hand over his mouth. "It's not what you think, Billey. I gotta check something out. Okay?"

The green candy nodded and hurried off to go fetch some rope. Meanwhile, Vanellope had walked behind the curtain to her throne while she rummaged in her hair for something. "Let's see, candy, candy… ah ha! Key!"

Her prize was a bland looking key that shined a dull yellow. She fumbled with it and gently inserted the thing in a vault door, a door which concealed the actual code vault. "Can't believe this used to be protected by one single stupid password," she muttered, waiting for the vault to open up on its own.

With how easy it was for Turbo to gain access to the place, it was no wonder that her first real order of business was to have additional security measures implemented in the heart of the game: the code vault.

"Here we are, Vanellope," Bill said, returning with a bright red thin strip of licorice rope.

Smiling, she tied one end to herself and gave the other to Bill before inputting the new password for the code door.

"The code vault, the lifeblood of the game," she said and even whistled at the immense complexity of it all.

"Pardon me for intruding, but what exactly are you looking for in here?"

For a moment, she ignored BIll as she floated around, looking from code box to code box. "Anything that's new or different. Or out of place."

"Pardon?"

"Well… I suspect that resetting the game did more than just put me back in charge. So, what else did Turbo screw with?"

At this, Bill could only shrug. His memories had been wiped clean with the only true thing he did remember happening was how Turbo had locked away everyone's minds, along with his own. Just like Vanellope, he was looking blind.

She spotted her code box, looking a tad bigger than the last time she had seen the thing. While it wasn't as bloated as King Candy's, hers was still the focal point and was connected to far more boxes than the other racers. Being the leader of the game, that made sense.

"Something different… something strange…" she murmured, floating past her box. Then she spotted it.

The black box was hardly recognizable among the brightly lit colored boxes of the other racers, but it was certainly there. The other Sugar Rush racers were there in a full lineup, each box a different color which represented their namesake and overall theme. Taffyta's, for example, was bright pink. The black box stood off to the side, still connected in places, but not in the exact same manner as the others, or even her own.

"Mystery Racer…" she whispered, reading out the box. Her fingers trembling, she double touched the front and waited for it to open. Eventually, it let out an audible ding noise and revealed all its secrets to her, opening up and showing off dozens if not hundreds of tiny little code boxes. She licked her lips in anticipation and then gasped.

"What the hay is this? Locks?! They're all locked!"

Sour Bill spoke over a two-way communication radio, "You mean encrypted?"

"I… yeah I guess so…" she replied, sounding a tad distracted.

Curious, Vanellope floated over to Taffyta's box and double tapped it. As expected, the tiny little code blips showed up with various icons and strings of text, but not a lock in sight. "I better close this," she said and quickly did just that. While she was technically in charge of everyone there, she shuddered to think what might happen if even one box were to glitch under her command.

She tried thumbing through the Mystery Racer boxes, only to come up with more and more encrypted boxes, none of which even had a single icon beyond a tiny little eight-bit style lock. "That's one heck of a mystery racer," she noted. One thing, however, did stand out when she finally closed the window. A tiny little skull icon which had almost gone unnoticed by her.

Each and every racer had a little icon to represent them, like a Strawberry or mint ice cream. Something that made them all stand out. The black racer had a black skull, a skull that looked an awful lot like a bad mark. Something evil. Something the programmers would have purposely left in for one reason or another. Her little hands traced around the skull, trying to make sense of it until she was forced to give up.

"I got nothing, Bill. She's clearly part of our game, but it's all locked. I don't even have a real name."

"Vanellope, I understand you're curious but could you please hurry it up?" Bill said, stuttering a bit. "I hate that room and I don't want to see it fall into the wrong hands, again!"

Vanellope paused to think it over, then sighed. "You're right, sour man. I'm sorry. I… I know you're just trying to protect me."

While it was quite uncharacteristic of her, BIll appreciated the sentiment. She started to float back to the entrance when something caught her eye. The other racers were connected to other boxes since that's just how the code worked. No connection meant no function. Taffyta's had three distinct wires linked to Vanellope, along with the other racers. The mystery girl had four, one of which glitched and shimmered not unlike her own special ability. She glanced at in awe but then felt a sudden tug on her rope.

"Okay! I'm coming, I'm coming…" she said with a sigh. As she floated away, she couldn't help but glance at the fourth wire curiously. Just what could it mean? Just why was the new racer so different?