Taffyta was feeling quite distinctly not like Taffyta, which seemed like quite the understatement. The fire that normally breathed through herself and radiated from her burning eyes just weren't there. She was frightened, nervous, and was feeling like a complete wreck, among other feelings and emotions that she just didn't feel like admitting to even herself.

Vanellope stood behind her with crossed arms while the remaining racers stood in front, waiting with bated breath for the girl to do anything but stay silent. Taffyta felt her lips tremble and her mouth move several times, but she quickly thought better of saying anything. After several awkward moments of this, someone broke the silence.

"Taffyta, they just want to know that you're okay."

The pink-tinted girl nodded to the president's words. It would be nice to tell everyone that she was okay and that things could go back to normal, but the mystery menace made that seem impossible. Things were not okay in Sugar Rush and Taffyta did not feel alright in the slightest.

Still, she decided to push through it. Fake it till you're done girl… or is it make it? Whatever, she thought.

"Look."

There, she said something, and, as expected, the other racers gasped and leaned in to hear the juicy news. It just made her feel more embarrassed.

"Look. I don't like talking about this kind of stuff," she stated rather firmly. She looked up and noticed that Candlehead was waving her hand forward, trying to encourage her to continue.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she did. "Ever since Prin- uh, President Vanellope came back and our memories came back I've been feeling really, uh, bad. Like, really bad," she said rather lamely. The other children did their best to look away from Vanellope. It was obvious they all felt bad about it.

"And I've been trying to forget about it. I've been… drinking lots of Root Beer at Tapper's and it just- just made it worse," she said, though at the end she started to mumble. The girl stomped her foot and started to already feel more shameful than she ever thought possible.

"Can we just not do this right now?" she whispered back to Vanellope in a pleading tone.

The girl shook her head and surprised Taffyta by grabbing her hand and squeezing it, which felt good.

"Taffyta hurt herself last night, everyone. She wasn't herself and she's been feeling really guilty about how she… well, treated me over the years. She broke her trophies because she believes she doesn't deserve them."

This is the most embarrassing moment in my life, and that includes crying in front of everyone on the track, Taffyta thought. But, she couldn't deny that having Vanellope speak for her felt… nice. How can she be that brave?

"That's crazy talk, Taffyta! You're the best racer we have! Um… n- no offense, Vanellope," Rancis said in a nervous tone.

The president smirked. "None taken, peanut boy. We all strive to be the best on the track, but I think Taffyta's always been a cut above the rest. She's brave and isn't afraid to take risks on the track. You may not feel it, Taffy Head, but I think you deserve those trophies more than anyone else."

It was probably the most sincere thing that Vanellope had ever said to any of them over the years. Taffyta couldn't help but sniffle a little, though she kept the fire in her eyes there, burning away the tears which threatened to fall at any moment.

"We're all so worried about you. We're your friends and friends don't let themselves get hurt, Taffy. Do… do you have something to say?"

"Well I… I don't really know-" What to say, she couldn't help but finish in her head just as someone burst through the castle doors and made everyone jump in shock. Whoever it was, Taffyta figured it bought her some time so she was very grateful.

"P- Prin- err- President! We found her!"

Taffyta looked past the crowd and spotted King Candy's old guards, Wynnchel and Duncan, two donut theme guards designed for the game.

Vanellope walked past the crowd and stared at the two. "You found, uh, who?"

The cops shared a look with one another before Duncan stepped forward. "We thought you might want to know the whereabouts of the Mystery Racer and we found her."

Instantly everyone in the room perked up, even Taffyta who had been hanging at the back and hoping to make a silent escape back to her home.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense, Sprinkles, where'd you find her?!" Vanellope asked, sounding a tad annoyed.

"She's been using, uh, well your old hideout as a hideout, mam."

Vanellope and the other racers blinked in unison.

"Shoulda saw that coming, I mean Sugar Rush isn't that big…" Vanellope mumbled to herself.

"Well, w- why didn't you arrest her?!" A few racers practically screamed, which was followed by several others murmuring and nodding in confirmation.

Wynnchel stepped forward and removed his hat. "Because she hasn't broken any rules or laws yet. She's just, uh… sleeping there. She actually looked kinda, uh, I dunno… peaceful?"

Vanellope smacked the front of her face with her tiny hands and slowly brought them down in an exasperated manner. "J- just bring her here or something. Okay?" Vanellope ordered, but again the two cops shared a look and slowly shook their heads.

"We're not gonna force her to come. You said this was no longer a dictatorship, your, uh, presidentess? Whatever you want to be called, the point is we can't just force someone to do what we want, even if you order it. Sorry, Vanellope."

The racers stared at the two cops in bewilderment before slowly turning back to face their president.

"Oh jawbreakers, they got me there," Vanellope replied with a huff.

"Fine, you won't take her in. C'mon, gang, let's go!" Jubileena said while pounding her fists into her hands. The others all cheered and followed her through the castle doors and out of Taffyta's view.

I can't believe I'm thinking this, but thank programmers for the stupid Mystery Menace, Taffyta thought and sighed with relief. Then she blinked and looked up. As it turned out, not everyone had decided to leave with Vanellope and one Candlehead staying behind, both staring at the racer with raised brows. Taffyta gulped.

Candlehead held her arms in a cross while glaring up at her friend. Deep down, Taffyta wished she had just stayed in bed.

The group of racers rushed off in their karts, ignoring the shouts of the two donut officers. They'd had enough of the Mystery Menace and it was time to band together to put a stop to her. They had the gear, they had the will and they had their karts. Just what did she have? A candy volcano and a freaky looking bike, as far as they were concerned, it would be no match. This was what Jubileena thought as she led the pack further and further into Sugar Rush while gripping her steering wheel as tight as she could.

Does she think she can sleep away while we suffer?! Nuts to that!

They all rounded a corner and suddenly the massive volcano came into view. Knowing full well where to enter, Jubileena rushed off ahead, barreling headfirst into the volcano wall. Just under the lollipops.

The other racers followed and rushed straight through the false wall. A strange noise followed by a glowing blue light washed over their cars as the environment switched from a happy, carefree sight to a dark cave that was only dimly lit by boiling hot cola. Their engines slowly shut off, one by one while the lead racer gulped a bit.

She sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "What is that…?"

The others sniffed as well, all feeling quite unnerved. "Sour candy?"

"Ew!" A few screamed in response as they held their noses in a vain attempt to stop the offending stench from reaching them.

"Shh!" The leader said in a hushed whisper. "We don't want her knowing we're here. We gotta, you know, get the jump on her!"

Rancis gave the cherry themed racer an annoyed stare before speaking. "Really? We came rushing in with our karts on, dumb dumb. I think she knows."

Pouting, Jubileena marched forward and nearly butted her head to the boy. "Don't call me stupid, Rancis!"

The boy jetted forward and actually did butt heads while scowling. "I didn't! I called you a dumb dumb, dumb dumb!"

"Why you-"

"Uh, g- guys," Minty tried to get out, but at that point, the other children were cheering on either Rancis or Jubileena who weren't exactly acting friendly to one another. The former of which got into a fighting stance while the latter continued to rant and taunt the poor boy.

Minty focused up at a nearby ledge to a dark looking figure while she nervously played with her hands. "G- guys…" she whispered, but again no one heard her.

"I've seen better racers on the kiddie track, peanut boy!"

"Well I've-"

"Guys!" Minty finally screamed which made the others jump in surprise.

"What?!" they all screamed back in unison. Minty pointed a shaking finger up at the dark figure while the others quickly turned around to face it.

The figure stepped forward into the light. The rustling of black leather clothing could be heard while the Mystery Girl's boots cling and clanged on the volcano floor. Everyone's eyes widened in shock while the girl leaned down a bit.

"Boo!"

The other racers all screamed and ran out toward their karts, tripping over one another and scrambling to get out of the volcano as quickly as they could while a fit of laughing giggles could be heard echoing throughout the mountain.

Authors Notes ( really needs blog features...)

Quick Update on Me: And there we have it, an actual update. Some may be wondering why it took me this long and if I'm even writing these things, well work can be quite annoying. But with all of this nasty COVID business going on I've been forced to stay home from work and I have a lot more free time.

Reflections of a Character: To anyone who reads my other works, Reflections of a Character is getting there I'm just sort of stuck. Also been toying around with Fallout 76 far too much after its latest update which is, of course, relevant to Reflections. I am a tad sad that they decide to keep in some of the robot NPCs and tie them to the story. I could have sworn they wanted to go full-on reboot which is why I took a small gamble and made Rose a human character. But oh well, lesson learned. A real update for it should be coming soon... I hope!

Taffyta's Feelings: On another side note, I posted a brand new story that uh well I sort of knew going into it but I don't think anyone is interested. It's up in the air if I'll continue it, but for those who are curious, it's a sort of tale that explores the thoughts and feelings of children. Particularly Taffyta and Vanellope and how they deal with being sort of alone in their arcade world. Though the main reason why I think no one wants to keep reading is the nature of the story deals with very childish things and it is probably a tad cringy to some. I re-worked the chapters that I had several times, trying to make it all work. While I have no delusions that everyone is interested in the subject matter, I do think that some may find it appealing to read, I'll just have to wait and see.

Choices of a Character: As for Choices, I do have quite a few plans and I will never give up on it. I just hope I can keep a good writing pace since I seem to fall into nasty writing traps and am worried that I'm using my newly found free time quite poorly. I sort of had to cut this chapter short and I am sorry for that, but some is better than none. Let me know what you all think!

And, as always, if anyone wishes to join a Wreck-It Ralph based Discord server where we discuss writing, gaming, and anything else then feel free to send me a PM.

StaySweet!