#vanillabutter

Also in the audience sat Tamora, Felix, and the security guard for Game Central Station, Surge Protector. The married couple had insisted on being there to support them for their first race after being reinstated.

“I’ll get back to Hero’s Duty before any player can say, ‘Let’s shoot some cybugs!’” said Tamora with unbridled enthusiasm.

“And the same for my game,” added her husband.

Rancis, standing on the podium, noticed the other racers’ elation at being back in business, and the similar energy from Felix and Calhoun.

“I should be happy too,” he thought. “I’m not game-less any more.” But he couldn’t shake that empty feeling inside.

Suddenly, a familiar, booming voice came from the large screen listing the roster. “Quarter alert!”

“Alright, head in the game,” Rancis told himself.

Rancis climbed into his Reese’s peanut butter cup-themed kart. Markers indicating the players hovered over Taffyta and, actually, him.

3 lights, and they were off.

Rancis let the player guide his kart across the track, around racers and giant gumball obstacles. He didn’t need to concentrate much, but that only let him dwell further on the fact that Vanellope would neither be racing alongside him nor cheering from the audience.

His kart grabbed each power-up box it came across, and each item hit its mark. This caught his attention, as normally players would often run into at least the occasional obstacle. By the time they reached the jumping ramp out of the giant cake, his player had brought him to 3rd place. Only Taffyta and Adorabeezle remained ahead of him, and only by a few kart-lengths.

Shortly after they flew off the ramp, Taffyta threw an expertly-timed power-up at Adorabeezle, stopping her midair and sending her into the cupcake frosting below.

Taffyta laughed in her usual, haughty way. While Felix and Calhoun’s teachings about being kinder seemed to impress on the other racers, Taffyta only seemed to be nice when Felix and Calhoun were watching.

It was player versus player now. Powdered sugar snow began to pelt Rancis’s face, he looked around for Taffyta, but no sign of her. Suddenly, she ripped past him, coating his kart in the snow before they plunged into darkness.

The sugar crystal caves glimmered at the kart headlights, and the roar of the engines echoed throughout. Taffyta still rushed ahead, but Rancis slowly gained. Back into the sunlight, and the race was almost over. Every second, Rancis drew closer and closer. The finish line came into view. Just a couple more kart-lengths. Taffyta hit one of the boxes from the last line of power-ups, and less than a second later, so did Rancis.

The other player launched the item at Rancis, but his player anticipated it and swerved out of the way. Then at the player's command, he launched his perfectly-aimed power-up, causing Taffyta's kart to spin out. Rancis sped forward, and before Taffyta could catch up, he crossed the finish line.

“Wow, I finally won,” he thought, “after so long.” Then he spotted Taffyta coming to a stop beside him.

Rancis knew what it was like to have someone just beat you at the last second at a race, so despite everything, he still felt bad for her. “Oh, golly. I'm sorry you didn't win, Taffyta,” he said with sincerity.

Taffyta looked unimpressed for a moment, but as soon as she caught a glance of Felix and Calhoun, her expression turned nicer. “Pfft! Our friendship is much more important to me than winning, Rancis.”

***

Rancis stood on the podium, trophy in hand. One of the players looking through the screen was whooping in victory. For the first time since he heard that Vanellope had left for good, Rancis smiled. He looked back up at Felix, Tamora, and Surge Protector. Oddly, Surge looked actually surprised. Could it be because of how he pulled ahead last minute?

Felix and Tamora waved goodbye to all the racers and left the stands for Game Central Station, with Surge rubbing his forehead, still apparently in shock. There were no more players for a few minutes, so the participating racers discussed the race with the ones sitting out for the day.

Then sounded another “Quarter alert!” The racers glanced at the screen and noticed 2 familiar faces, Swati and her friend Nafisa, the former of which had accidentally broken the game’s steering wheel after Vanellope started going against her control. The 9 chosen racers went back to their places on the tracks as the players each opened the character select screen.

“Where’s Vanellope?” asked Swati.

Rancis glanced at Swati, who had a confused, almost concerned look.

“The roster changes every day,” explained Nafisa. “She’ll probably be playable tomorrow.”

“Oh, alright,” said Swati, in a disappointed tone.

For the next 4 days, Nafisa and Swati came at least once to see what the new roster was. Every time, whether from his kart or in the bleachers, Rancis noticed Swati’s reaction to Vanellope’s absence, and even Nafisa started to become visibly confused.

On the 4th day, Swati asked, “Is there a way to see all of the racers, even the ones not chosen?”

Nafisa typed something into her phone, most likely looking up Swati’s question. “Yes, if you go into settings, then characters, then list all.” A few sounds from navigating the settings echoed through the game. “Huh, didn’t there used to be 15 racers? Now there are 14.”

Rancis’s stomach tightened. “Stick to the program,” he remembered, so he kept an unemotional look.

“Vanellope’s not here at all,” said Swati. “Check on your machine.”

“Not there either,” said Nafisa.

“Should we tell Mr. Litwak?” asked Swati.

“Well, the game was just fixed. Maybe we can wait until there’s a factory reset?”

The 2 girls stood up and left for another arcade console.

Rancis couldn’t stand it any longer. He bolted out of the stands and into the racer village behind.

“Why’s he leaving?” said Citrusella.

“Who cares?” said Taffyta dismissively.

“I’ll go talk to him,” said Swizzle.

He walked into the village and knocked on Rancis’s door, hearing a faint, “Come in.”

Swizzle found Rancis on his couch, his face in his hands.

“Is this about Vanellope leaving?” asked Swizzle, with a concerned tone.

“Yes,” said Rancis. “Are Swati and Nafisa the only other people who are bothered by this?”

“It’s alright, they’ll come back and play eventually,” said Swizzle. “Sugar Rush got plenty of quarters before Vanellope became president.”

“You mean when Turbo had us all brainwashed?” snapped Rancis.

Swizzle stood in silence, looking tongue-tied.

“The players love her, and for good reason. She’s charming, funny, and has those deep, hazel eyes—”

“What do her eyes got to do with this?” said Swizzle.

Rancis felt his cheeks flush a bit. He didn’t mean to mention that last part.

He continued, “We treated her like dirt after Turbo took over, but she forgave us and treated us like equals. She never did anything wrong to us. I made fun of her glitching…”

“Exactly, she forgave us,” said Swizzle. “And we were brainwashed. And that was 6 years ago!”

“Were we boring her? Not giving her the life she wanted?”

“Whatever it is, she’s happy where she is now. It’s time we move on.”

Rancis raised his head out of his hands and looked Swizzle in the eye. “Easy for you to say. You have Sticky as a girlfriend!”

Swizzle’s eyes narrowed. “Do you have a thing for Vanellope?”

Rancis looked away. “I need some time alone.”

Nougetsia stood outside Rancis’s house. Swizzle came out. “He won’t talk to any of us racers,” he explained.

“Maybe we should ask Felix and Tamora about this after the arcade closes,” suggested Nougetsia. “They have great advice for these kinds of things.”

***

The California sunset shone through the arcade doors, partially blocked by Mr. Litwak locking up before he left for his car. Calhoun was high-fiving Markowski (he had become more adapted to fighting bugs over the past 6 years), and Felix was sharing cake with Ralph and the Q*bert characters when Nougetsia and Swizzle told them what had happened.

“I should have fixed the elevator faster. Then we could have gotten down before Rancis finished talking with Ralph,” said Felix, while he and his wife walked through the crowded Game Central Station.

“Look, you didn’t know,” said Tamora, dodging around Dig Dug. “We’ll smooth this out faster than a torrent beating against an ancient igneous.”

As they came up to Rancis’s home, Felix asked, “Should you talk to him first, or should I? Or maybe both of us?”

“I can try first.” She knocked. “Can I come in, lamb?”

No answer.

“I heard what happened,” she said. “You must feel devastated. I know what it’s like to lose someone you love, and you ever want to talk about it, I’d sure be happy to.”

Silence. Raising an eyebrow, Tamora put her hand on the knob and, to the surprise of both her and Felix, it turned easily. The unlocked door creaked open and the couple entered. Calhoun spotted a note on the graham cracker table:

“Going to the Internet. Will be back soon.”

“Oh my land!” exclaimed Felix.

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