Round and Round We Go

[Deleted]

((March 12th.  Open to just King Candy and Nill for the first few pages, then open to the rest of the army.  Intro thread for Nill.))


Ugh.  A circus by any other name invoke just as much malice.  It was simply too jolly a place for the nasty little racer.  The bright colors and light reminded Nill of how grumpy she was - what right does everything else to be happy when she is not?  It was more than just her usual not-greatly-pleasant demeanor that caused Nill to scowl at the circus; Nill never believed in the afterlife, but it appeared that the black certain of nothingness that was termination had lifted.  Before stumbling upon this carnival, the female racer was destroyed when her game was unplugged.  Then, suddenly, poof; her life was restored.  At the least, she assumed she'd be somewhere familiar, such as Game Central Station, but no; random circus.  What gives?  If there was some kind of great video game god, why wouldn't he drop her off somewhere she knew: back at the now-defunct Turbotime would have been preferred.  

A bit of time wondering allowed Nill to think and cool down...slightly.  Once the realization that her old pal Turbo betrayed his game, Nill fancied jumping aboard the blasphemy train and taking his place in the game.  Of course that'd make her a fifthly opportunist, but a wardrobe change would do to make her just like the egomaniac - the gamers probably wouldn't have noticed a thing.  Nill doubted she would have been able to save the game, and herself, even if this idea occurred to her at the time of doom.

What game was she in now anyway?  It seemed to be some kind of open world...something.  Having her life cut short in the early years of video gaming, the concept of an open world was foreign to her.  Nill was sure there must have been an objective to this game.  Or at least...other characters around.  Maybe if she found a local, they'd be willing to help a lady out.  After a haughty growl, Nill pulled open the curtain of a big tent, possibly playing right into the hands of any sort of enemy lurking nearby.  If she just explained her situation, surely, she'd get some answers.

"Any carnies in here?  If you couldn't tell by the fancy jumpsuit, I don't think this place is quite my genre," Nill called.

[King Candy/Turbo]

(OCC: I'm incredibly late and for that I apologize. Sorry, sorry sorry that it's still crappy, compared to yours)

King candy would've lied if he said he wasn't bored beyond recognition. He wished something, anything would jump up and make his time in the war interesting... Enter a familiar face why don't ya? Candy was shocked to hear a familiar female voice. Grumpy and rather persistent. He remembered it all too well. Nill. He remembered her far more than he should've or wanted to.

When he went "turbo", he didn't really think or care about what happened to anyone else. But when he realized Nill was lost because of what he did... Well, he definitely regretted costing her. But in the end he moved on from his mistakes. But apparently today it was to come right back on him. All of them. All on one person. Thank god he was not in his normal form. Maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't recognize him. Yeah, if she did, he'd admit it. But lying would't hurt now would it?

"I'm a delightful carnie here! Hello there!" Candy replied, being as happy and giggly as he could, to make the lie sell more. "Welcome there. I almost didn't see you there. I was just looking around to see if the tent was alright!" He giggled again, hoping she wouldn't remember "I suppose you're here for facilier yes? I'm one of his members"

[Deleted]

The female racer brought her head back.  Nill flinched.  She was half-expecting an enemy or a bad-guy to jump her and she was prepared to go right at their eyes.  Because if she fought, she'd fight dirty.  Luckily for everyone's optic organs, Nill realized quite quickly that the suddenly-appearing little clown man meant her no harm.  Relief flooded her face before it quickly snapped back into a scowl; peh, she wasn't scared.  Nill glared down her nose at the candy king, as she would to pretty much everyone.  But something kept harassing her mind; the voice.  Her great uncertainty manifested itself in an even more intense glare.  There was no way she was going to show weakness, but something about this man was setting off alarms.  But...no, couldn't be.

"I see," growled the blue racer, looking him up-and-down "You probably live here.  Well, I come from somewhere else.  Don't ask too many questions about it because I don't want to talk about it.  And - um - no; I don't know what a Facilier is."

Her eyes narrowed into yellow slits.  Nill dared to take a couple steps closer to King Candy.  Someone was suspicious.  Nill was doubtful of her suspicions, and she fully intended to test this over-dressed cream puff with all she had; she needed to find out if she was delusional and homesick, or if something was really up.

"So, what's your name, stranger?" she asked.

[King Candy/Turbo]

Nill's glares worried Candy quite a bit. Was he that obvious? But fortunately it just turned out to be her casual look. Seeing her intense glare threw him off, as seen with a small frown. Fortunately though, Nill was as naive as Candy hoped she would be. That is until she started looking him up and down, her voice in a aggressive growl. If there was one thing Candy was impressed with, was with how aggressive and feisty Nill was. But he kept his smile cheerful, just to set his illusion straight.

"I do indeed live here!" King Candy replied. He then nodded as she said she was from somewhere else "I understand. For a majority of our... hard to explain, army are from different places" He then gave a laugh "Oh my no. Facilier is not a thing. But a person! A rather interesting fellow I should say but then again, you'll meet him soon I'm sure!"

He then frowned slightly more as her eyes began to narrow. Suspicious she was, and Candy was justifiably nervous. But he kept his cool, hearing her only ask for his name. Simple question. Simple lie. Candy responded with a big grin "Why my name is King Candy! A pleasure to meet you miss...." He paused pretending to allow her to introduce herself.

[Deleted]

Well, if that wasn't the most unoriginal name in the world.  She folded her arms as she prepared to answer Candy's request for her name.

"Nill," She huffed.

Nill lifted a brow slowly.  The subject of Facilier only interested her slightly, but she did take her time in thinking about what she was learning.  An 'army' he said?  Strange...and a bit alarming.  She was a racer, not a fighter.  As much as her nasty attitude said otherwise, she didn't fancy her chances in physical confrontation.  She was - what - maybe sixty pounds at most?  And at that, was he implying that he intended to convince her to join?  Nill didn't think she was fit for the task at all, unless, if maybe there was something worthwhile at the end.  A trophy?  Fame?  She wasn't about to let herself get too excited.  But why on earth would these guys be bringing in random folks who are obviously not from this game?  Unless they just took in homeless characters.  That's nice of them.

"Oh.  I never would have thought this was a war game, especially not by looking at you, fruitcake," Nill commented.

Nill made no commitments yet.  Besides, in her mind, there was something more interesting she needed to investigate.  King Candy's voice was still jarring.  She knew she heard it before and she knew who it belonged to.  There was always the possibility someone else just happened to have the same voice as Turbo, if unlikely.  Or maybe she was just loosing it - hearing things.  She was going find out, and if she acted like a complete lunatic in front of what might have been an innocent man, so be it.  King Candy seemed nice enough to her, but she could detect his apprehension.  Perhaps it was because of her ghost-like appearance or maybe he had something to hide.

"I know I said I wasn't going to mention it, but I'm feeling open-minded today; you ever hear of a game called Turbotime?" Nill asked.

[King Candy/Turbo]

"Nice to meet you Nill" Candy said, his tone sounding sincere. He then listened to her comment about this being a war game and he shook his head "Oh no. You're not in a game anymore, you're in real life. Well that's at least what Facilier told me when I arrived. I once came from a game but it's far too nice for a place like this" He hoped that wouldn't throw her off. Telling her that he came from a different game would continue to intensify the lie. Which made it easier for him to keep his cover.

He then pondered, secretly terrified that Nill mentioned Turbotime, he had a very bad feeling that she was catching on. That she was onto him. Her question though seemed to simple to blow his cover. "An old game character you are then? Ah yes. I've heard of the game but it was destroyed. By some rather rebellious fellow. Can't remember his name" He pondered "Ah yes, how stupid of me, turbo!" He then responded with a bit of apprehension "Why would you ask that?"

[Deleted]

The little woman's snide confidence drained from her face.  The real world?  You mean, just standing there, in front of gamers, doing whatever?  Didn't that go against a few of those unspoken rules?  Unspoken rules that some people didn't have regard for by the way.  Speaking of which, hearing King Candy mention Turbo's existence gave her a bit of satisfaction.  Nill wasn't sure why.  She didn't have a comment about apparently being in the "real-world"; she was simply to dumbstruck by the very idea.  It was a stroke of luck, for the candy king at least ,that she was momentarily distracted, clouded, by this realization.  What would normal people think when they saw her?  She was already a bit of a freak, mostly in that she was a not-at-all-sexy female character, in the arcade.  What if someone tried blowing her head off thinking she was zombie or something.  There were zombies in the real world, right?  Even if there weren't, Nill was definitely sufficiently creepy enough to warrant shotguns pointed her way.  She didn't even have the privilege of being well-known so maybe a kid or something would spare her.  Sure she was in the Turbotime game, but she hardly more than a faceless "rival" grunt.  Oh wait - he was asking her something about that.

"What?  Um," she responded, shaking her head, "Yes, that.  Oh, it's nothing, I suppose.  I just thought I'd mention my home.  I was one of Turbo's rival racers before he betrayed his game and we sort of... game overed."

Nill was quiet for a moment and stared King Candy right in the eye, waiting for something - anything.  Was she going nuts after all?  Was she just harassing King Candy because she was angry and wanted him to be Turbo?  How on earth could this flamboyant cream puff be him, anyway?  The disguise was convincing.

"It's funny though, you sound just like him.  I should know; I spent years trapped in the same space as him, having to deal with it," Nill said, then added in a flat, mocking tone, "Turbo-tastic."

She was stubborn.  Unlike any of the citizens of Sugar Rush, Nill had all her memories at her disposal as well as fairly intimate knowledge of the rouge racer in question.  She might have stood a chance of solving the riddle.

[King Candy/Turbo]

"Ah yes I have heard the story. A shame really" Candy lied, his tone slightly softer. He kept thinking that he regretted it if only because of Nill. Other than that, he wasn't really ashamed. Bad publicity was still publicity. Fame was Candy's main goal in his life. It was why he constantly wanted to win and control Sugar Rush. He was a cheater through and through, in more ways than one. He then saw Nill stare at him. He deeply had a bad feeling about this. But she seemed fooled still, it was easy to though, he was a pretty damn good actor when he wanted to be.

"Do I? Huh. Quite strange I must admit" Candy said, giggling slightly but it sounded nervous. Damn. She was pretty good. Then again Nill was no idiot. Far from it actually. She then said his catchphrase and he pondered. She still remembered it. Well that was mostly because he said it so damn much. He then shrugged "I suppose you should indeed know. After all you were part of the same game as him"

[Deleted]

Nill took her death glare away.  She couldn't get a read on him, other than that she was probably creeping him out.  She'd be creeped out too if someone just appeared in her house and started interrogating her.  Did that mean she was going to stop?  Hell no.  After all, she was already dead as far as she was concerned, just like her friends, so what did she have to loose?

Nill said in a bitter tone, "It's such a sad story, especially for the innocents who were lost.  Innocents like me."

That last word was particularly hateful.  Because, damn it, Nill thought she was entitled to some pity.  At that point, Nill was talking mostly to herself.  Of course she intended for King Candy to hear her troubles too, but she needed her own sweet time to ruminate on her spite.  What did she ever do to deserve termination?  Other than being over-aggressive at times (most the time).  The muscles in her arms tightened for a few seconds, before some of her tension eased off.  Seemingly having calmed a little, she looked back at King Candy with a more gentle expression.  Although she had no evidence, she still thought he was Turbo because she was just that desperate for something familiar - even if it was 'something' she didn't particularly care for at the moment.

"Anyway," Nill croaked, "You know about me - where do you come from?  I don't think I've ever seen you around the arcade before."

[King Candy/Turbo]

Candy cringed a bit seeing Nill get once again become quite bitter. Great, as if he didn't feel bad enough. She was indeed entitled to be a bit hateful. What he did was admittedly selfish. Did he care about anyone else? Not really.. Well except Nill. He sighed and nodded "Yes. It is a sad story. I am sorry" Her spite was starting to wear his cheerful look down. But he STILL had to keep it. It would cause her to get suspicious. As if she wasn't enough already. Damn. She was stubborn. Maybe that was why he liked her previously.

"Well I am from a different arcade game, Sugar Rush it's called. But it's quite a new game. I'm not surprised you haven't heard of my before" Candy responded, actually sounding more sincere here. After all, this wasn't a lie. Candy was from a arcade game... just not only Sugar rush was all. He responded, continuing his explanation "Fun fact. Sugar Rush is also a racing game... it's candy themed obviously. It is quite enjoyable if I do say so myself" He smiled here, prideful and a bit egotistical but it still had some kindness in it.

[Deleted]

The little woman seemed pleasantly surprised once she heard the word "sorry". At last - the sort of attention she wanted. Yes, poor her indeed. Nill didn't need the word to be genuine; beggars couldn’t be choosers after all. But that charm wore off quickly. It wasn’t good enough for her; only a quick fix on her abysmal mood. When King Candy gave provided her next answer, she felt a twinge of satisfaction. Oh yes, she’d asked a leading question and now she believed things were beginning to turn to her favor. Of course, Nill had never heard of Sugar Rush; she was dead years before that game was even plugged in. The instant Candy told her it was another racing game, a smirk appeared on her face. Given newfound confidence in her maybe-delusion, Nill paced forward. She was smiling, but it was not a happy smile.

“A racing game, you say? Small world,” Nill said, “But then I suppose they needed to find a replacement after Turbotime and Road Blasters were gone. You must be Sugar Rush’s leader, right, your majesty? Lucky you though; if Turbo were still around when you showed up, I don’t think he would have liked it. Sugar Rush sounds like it could’ve been easy pickings.”

At this point, the female racer was only a few inches away from Candy. Obviously, Nill was no longer regarding personal space. Her movement suggested a predator that wasn’t sure if it could actually eat what was in front of it.

“I think he would've tried to take over your game too.”

[King Candy/Turbo]

Candy frowned at Nill's smile. It was a "aha" type of smile. A smile that made Candy much more apprehensive. She was getting closer. Damnit! How was she getting it?! How?! He nodded with a little laugh in agreement when she made a little jab at the fact he was from another racing game. He then nodded as he heard her comment Turbotime and Road Blasters needed a replacement. "Ah yes. I am indeed the leader... Or was. Until some brat took over. She overpowered it with her own sweetness. Long story" Candy said quickly, not wanting to give her too much info. Seeing it was always working to her advantage.

He then gulped as she immediately got into his personal space. She knew it was him. She had to. She wouldn't be this intimidating if she didn't. He tried one last time. Hoping to the video game creators above... He lied one last time. "He would've. But he's supposed to be destroyed for good. So he didn't. I suppose I am lucky" He then gulped again "Yes indeed. I am lucky"

[Deleted]

Whatever Candy had said about the state of affairs of Sugar Rush was hardly received.  Her interest was elsewhere so his words passed over her like they were nothing.  In all likelihood, she'd probably need the entire issue with Vanellope explained to her again in the future.  Nill currently could care less about Sugar Rush.  She had her priorities; such as asking herself what the king was so afraid of.  No, she was sure she knew.  Yellow eyes widened slowly as her mouth began to hang open.

"It is you," Nill murmured, as if even she wasn't expecting it.

Now that she made that conclusion, Nill didn't even know how she would react to it.  For several moments she was still, a shocked expression stuck on her face.  At first, she began to stir slowly, but then suddenly shoved her hands into Candy's chest, not hard enough to knock him down but enough to put some distance between them.  Even after that, Nill backed away, almost putting herself outside of the tent.  When she stopped, she stared at King Candy as if she had nearly stepped in some liquefied roadkill.

"I knew I smelled a rat," she hissed, "And you did it again, didn't you?  You invaded that 'Sugar Rush' game too."

Nill for one couldn't believe it.  Once more she began coming closer, looking on the verge of violence.  Yes, she was a deal scrawnier than Candy and in a fair fight she'd probably loose, but Nill didn't care.  She only wished her brother was here too; she bet he would have loved this.

"Go on, Turbo - give me one good reason why I shouldn't pummel you," Nill growled, doing her best to appear intimidating.

[King Candy/Turbo]

Candy's face immediately shattered into something of both guilt and fear. Fear that she was going to destroy him and regret of his assumption that this would work at ALL. He then responded "That obvious h-AH!" He replied as he was immediately shoved to the ground. A soft but noticeable thud was made as he was pushed to the ground. He then was about to get up but he immediately stayed put as she kept talking, and walking, to him. He at first said nothing and did nothing. But then Nill demanded a explanation.

He was unsure. So at first he looked to the ground. Before looking at her "I only lied because I know how pissed you'd be if you saw me for real. After all I did with Turbotime, it cost your life and... well you're the only reason why I feel bad about it. Everyone else can kiss it. But you didn't deserve to be punished for it. And I'm not saying this to try and get you on my good side" He shrugged "I'm saying this because I'm giving you the so-called good reason. The other reasons include that it won't get us anywhere and that you and I both know I'm slightly taller than you"

He then raised his arms in defeat and chuckled softly "So. Here we are. This is only one form. I haven't shown my normal one. I guess I should right?"

[Deleted]

Nill came to a stop.  She couldn't bring herself to attack.  Part of it was because she didn't want to be seen attacking someone who didn't make themselves a threat to her, but most of it was because, now that Candy was who she thought he was, she remembered the bond they had a game-mates.  Indeed, that bond was mangled now, but she couldn't forget it.  Besides, she imagined he'd fight back if she started something.  Injury wasn't something she felt she could afford at the moment.  Nill kept her distance, letting Candy attempt to explain himself.  Gradually, the anger mostly vanished from her face.  He cared that she was hurt?  Just her?  She wasn't certain how to handle the fact that she was, ahem, "special".  Perhaps she rathered Turbo actually cared about someone other than him and, she guessed, herself.  And yet, something about his words were flattering.  Especially given that she was under the impression that Turbo couldn't even tell her apart from her brother half the time.  Recognition - that was her weakness.  Even if it had to come from this awful excuse of a human being, she'd be damned if she didn't take it.

"What?  You care about me?" Nill asked, greatly surprised, "I - uh - no, wait.  Why should I believe anything you say?"

Her accusation wasn't unfounded.  After all, she'd been lied to up to this point and didn't have any reason to think he wasn't just trying to con her into something or another.  Even so, the part of Nill that still thought Turbo was kinda cute really wanted to believe he was telling her the truth.