If Vanellope Hadn't Been Kidding

''….shall all be...executed.''

All of the Sugar Rush Racers fell on their knees and began begging for their lives.

''Oh, please, please,'' Taffyta begged.

''Don't kill us!'' Rancis pleaded, tears streaming from his eyes.

''Spare us, please!'' Candlehead cried.

"Spare you?'' sneered Vanellope, all the mock-sweetness in her voice gone. ''Why should I?''

''I told you, we were just joking!'' Rancis said.

''Just joking?" Vanelope said, "Really, Rancis? You expect me to believe that bull?''

''Please...'''

''Shut up!'' Vanelope shot back, eyes flashing with hate. ''Seriously, were you joking when you were sucking up to Taffyta all this time? Were you joking when helped them wreck my kart?''

Rancis continued to beg, eyes shut and gushing forth tears.

It only made Vanelope despise him even more. She'd had feeling for Rancis for a long time. And the fact that he, too, had sided with Taffyta, was following her around and doing what she told him just because she was the stuck up Miss-popularity kid, made her furious beyond belief. Now, look at him—begging for his life now that he remembered who she was. "I expected better of you, at least. You've never even won a race, and you had the nerve to treat me like that for being a glitch?Where were you when I needed you, Rancis?''

"Well...I...er...uh..'' Rancis blathered.

Vanelope very near to tears herself. She couldn't bear what Rancis had done to her. ''You're dead! You're ALL dead! She pointed to the donut cops. ""Take them away!

The donut cops rushed and began beating and tasering the wailing, screaming racers into submission. Then they chained all of the semi-conscious kids together, and set up an execution block. First, they placed Taffyta's head on the chopping block. One of the donut's raised a large beheading ax.

Vanellope felt a tap on her shoulder.

She turned around and looked up at Ralph, who starred down with a deeply troubled look on his large, kind face. ''Uh...kid?''

"What's wrong, Ralph?''

''Don't you think...uh..you're taking this... um..a little too far?''

''As a matter of fact, I don't. You saw how they treated me! It wasn't my fault I was a glitch! And they mocked me for it! You don't know how much pain they caused me.''

''But..but, kid—this is only making things worse!''

''I'll decide that for myself, thank you!''

Ralph's face suddenly hardened. He glowered down at Vanellope with a look of fierce determination. "Now see here, kiddo.'' Ralph said. ''You're going too far, and I'm not going to let you get away with this!''

He rushed at the donut executioner and slapped him with one of his huge hands so that the ax flew away from him. Ralph picked up the ax and snapped it into. "This has gone far enough!'' he rumbled. ''You're not killing any of these kids.'' He shook his huge finger at the donut cop.

''Ralph!'' shrieked Vanellope, her voice shocked and outraged. ''How dare you take their side against me!''

''I'm not on anyone's side here, Vanelope!"'said Ralph.

''Get him!'' Vanellope screamed.

The cops swarmed over Ralph beating him with their clubs and tasers. Ralph swatted them away with ease, but they kept coming.

''Use your tasers!'' screamed Vanellope.

The cops hit Ralph with all of their tasers at once. It proved too much, even for the nine-foot giant, and at last Ralph crashed to the ground, out cold.

''Take him to the dungeon, until he learns who gives orders around here!''

The cops carted Ralph away.

Vanellope then ordered them to proceed with the executions. Taffyta went first, then Rancis, then Candlehead, then Jubileena, Gloyd, and the rest of them, until every last Sugar-racer was dead. Then they took the baskets full of their heads and bodies down to the hot-taffy river and tossed them in.

Later on, Vanellope visited Ralph in the dungeon. Ralph tried to explain to her why he felt it was wrong what she did. Vanellope refused to listen, but she did agree to let Ralph go, now that it was already over for the other racers and he could do nothing to save them.

But one of the cops informed her that the kids would likely regenerate the next morning when the arcade opened. Vanellope realized that she hadn't thought of that. So she went into the game's system, and located all of the racers' tags. She had intended to delete them if she could, but then some impulse caused her to deactivate and remove all of their tags. She also reprogramed some of the other inhabitants of sugar rush to be racers. She took the tags back to the palace and locked them all in safe-box. Why, she couldn't have said. Just in case...

Then Sour Bill announced to her that the races were about to begin, but now the players would have any avatars.

''So what?'' Vanelope told him. ''I've programed some of the candy people to be racers. We don't need any of those brats.''

But time proved her wrong. The candy-people, used to sitting in the stands, had no racing skills. Vanellope ran rough-shod over them. It was no challenge at all, no fun. Worse, they ended up crashing and wrecking Jubileena's Cherriot and Rancis's Kit Kart.

Worse still, a week later Sugar Rush received terrible news.

Litwack's Arcade was pulling the plug on them.

''But why?'' Vanellope asked Sour Bill.

''The players out there just don't want candy-people as their avatars,'' he said, ''Cute little racer-kids are so much cooler.''

''What? But I'm still here!''

''I'm afraid one cute kid isn't enough to save the game. Everyone wants to play as you, but they've gotten sick of having to play you over and over, or get stuck with one of the candy people. They're pulling our plug tomorrow.''

Vanellope was mortified. She prayed it wasn't true, or was at least exaggerated.

But sure enough,she went to the races that day, and found the bleachers empty. ''Where is everybody? And where's Ralph? I thought I could count on him at least. He's always up there with his buddy Felix and Felix's girlfriend.''

''Sorry, kid,'' said Bill. ''That's another thing. Ralph and Felix left yesterday for good. They said they'd had enough of you. They said you've become worse than King Candy ever was. Ralph hung on for as long as he could, but now he's given up. They're never coming back to Sugar Rush.''

And the next day, sure enough, there wasn't even a Sugar-Rush to come back to; the lights started going out around noon. A great, forboding darkness overspread the sky. All the citizens of the land panicked and ran screaming for the exist. Vanellope barely made it out in time. But she managed to bring the safe-box with the racers' tags with her.

The entire populace of Sugar Rush was stuck in Grand Central Station. But none of them wanted anything to do with their former ruler. They hated Vanellope for killing the game and destroying their home.

Vanellope sat forlornly on her safe-box, at the side of the wall in Grand central Station, shunned by all the other characters. No one would even come near her.

Vanellope was weeping softly, her heart broken. She missed the other racers now. She wanted them back, even Taffyta. Most of all she missed Ralph and Felix, her best friends. Then she chanced to look up, and her eyes brightened.

Across the station from where she sat was a tunnel. Above it was a sign that read The Dead Return.

The Dead Return? That sounded perfect! Maybe if she went into that game, she could get her friends to come back. Vanellope sprang to her feet, seized her box, and ran into the tunnel...

The game, it turned out, was not what she expected. But she was not certain what she had expected. This world looked like real-life suburban neighborhood around sun down. Several adults passed her on the side walk. One man looked down at her. ''What's with you, kid?'' he asked. ''You've got to get inside! It's when they come out!''

Vanellope had no idea who ''they'' were, but she said,''Please could you tell me where the game's system is?''

''Why? What would you want with that?''

''Just tell me.''

''That way...the big building on the right.'' Then he ran away, terrified of ...something.

Vanellope shrugged and went on. But as she continued, and saw doors slamming in the houses on either side. And more people running home. What was going on her. Vanellope feared that she had to reach the game's system before night fell.

At last she reached a large, gray, industrial-looking building. A pair of guards stopped her, and asked her business. ''What's in the box, young lady.''

''I'll have you know that I'm the royal princess of Sugar Rush''

When they heard that, the guards immediately trusted her and gave her the key to the system. Vanellope entered the game's sytem, and plugged in all of the racers' tags. The tags glowed brightly in the dark, their memories flowing and reactivated. Her work accomplished, Vanellope swam back out and left the buildings. The guards warned that she had best seek cover, as now it was fully dark.

Vanellope had not ventured far before she heard the moaning. Then she saw them: dark shapes shambling forth form the trees.

Vanellope's large eyes went wide in terror and shock.

They were the walking dead, living corpses in tattered clothes, their eyes burning a hellish red. The zombies in back were all adults, but the ones in front, she now saw, were all kids. And as they drew nearer, Vanellope recognized them—and screamed in pure terror.

They were her former friends—and former tormentors—the Sugar-Rush racers.

There was Taffyta, and Rancis, and all the others, their skin now a sickly green hue, their eyes glazed, their mouths drooling. And they were coming for her.

''No! Stay away!'' Vanellope screamed ''I tried to bring you back!

''You killed us!'' groaned Taffyta ''You killed us, after we begged for our lives. And then you made us into this!''

"No! Noooo!'' Vanellope screamed, tears gushing down her cheeks. "I didn't know it would be like this! Nooooo!

And then she felt herself being shaken. ''Vanelope, Vanelope, wake up!''

Vanelope's eyes snapped open. The sky above was the familiar sunny blue, with cotton-candy clouds swirling and drifting. And Vanellope saw where she was, where she had always been, ever since she had curled up to sleep on a gumdrop plant in the peppermint forest.

Rancis was shaking her awake. ''Vanellope!''

""Okay, okay, Butterfingers, I'm awake already.''

''I found you crying in your sleep here, and I thought something was wrong.''

Vanellope suddenly burst into tears. She through her arms around Rancis, sobbing. ''Oh, Rancis, Rancis! I'm so sorry?''

"What are you sorry for, Vanelope? You're the one helped me win my first Sugar rush cup!''

''I dreamed that I wasn't kidding when I told you guys you'd be executed! You were all dead, and they shut us down!'' she sobbed and sobbed.

''It's okay, Vanellope.'' Rancis said, ''I'm here now, and everything's fine.''

Vanellope blinked away her tears and smiled at him. ''That's right, everything's fine. I guess I've learned not fall asleep thinking about the past.''

''So are you ready to race!''

''You bet!''

They ran off to the race-track. Everyone was there. Ralph and Felix and Tamora were their in their box as usual. Vanellope waved at them, and they waved back. Each of them jumped to their racing kart.

All the racers were lined up. Vanellope noticed Taffyta looking enviously at her and Rancis. She knew how Taffyta felt about them being together, ever since Rancis had won his cup.

In the next moment, they were off and racing.

'