Fanfic / Sugar Rush: Rival Racing

The Sweet Tooth racers^note From left to right: Petty Al Capop-Rock, Fryer Dough, Tea Tootsie, Sydney Syrupshot, Jimmy Jawcracker, Prince Garry Gumball, Larry de Lickerish, Cindy Syrupshot, Fang Frootloop, Manny Maplelog, and Patrick Al Capop-Rock

Original art by DreamerAwaken. Used with permission.

Ralph: So, let me get this straight. There's an update in Sugar Rush.

Vanellope: Yes.

Ralph: With new characters?

Vanellope: Uh-huh

Ralph: And this Garry guy is their king.

Vanellope: Correct.

Ralph: And you guys didn't get along.

Vanellope: That's it.

Ralph: So you made a bet?

Vanellope: Right.

Ralph: And if you lose, you'll be married to him.

Vanellope: That's pretty much the gist of it.

Sugar Rush: Rival Racing is a Wreck-It Ralph fanfiction that, while set in the same exact universe, focuses on the Sugar Rush racers rather than the eponymous wrecker.

Written by HardWrapping and set some time after the events of the film, the story focuses on the lives of the racers from the fictional game Sugar Rush, in which we're shown what they do from time to time when the game isn't in use. That is, until a new set of racers show up. Following an unexpected update which leads to the creation of a new portion of Sugar Rush called the Sweet Tooth kingdom, Vanellope and her friends find themselves racing for their lives when Vanellope accepts a bet by Prince Garry Gumball, the ruler of the said kingdom. The prize at stake: Vanellope's hand in marriage. They now must face off against the racers of the new kingdom in a ten-against-ten Grand Prix race using double dash karts (basically karts that allow two people).

At the same time, the racers also have to worry about their love lives. When a certain pumpkin headed boy starts pranking Vanellope one too many times, everybody else begins to suspect that they might be crushing on each other (despite the both of them constantly denying the mere thought of it). It only gets worse when the aforementioned bet that'll see Vanellope getting married to Garry gets placed, leading everybody to worry not just for her but for the entire game.

The story was followed by several slice-of-life fanfics, all of which focus on the lives of Sweet Tooth racers after the events of the story, along with an incomplete sequel titled Sugar Rush: Return of A King. On September 24, 2022, author HardWrapping announced that a rewrite of the story titled Sugar Rush: Rival Rebellion is in progress. The rewrite can be found here.

Spoilers related to the original Wreck-It Ralph movie will be UNMARKED so read at your own risk.

This fanfic contains examples of:

• Adaptation Expansion: At least for the Sugar Rush racers, who are all given more expanded characterizations using what had been already mentioned about them in their biographies on the Disney website (such as Gloyd being a prankster and Candlehead being The Ditz).
• Adapted Out: For whatever reasons, the two doughnut cops from the film, Wynchel and Duncan, are never seen or mentioned at any part of the story.
• Aerith and Bob: The Sweet Tooth Kingdom racers have far more mundane sounding names (Garry, Sidney, Jimmy, Larry, etc.) compared to the Candy Kingdom racers (Vanellope, Taffyta, Rancis, Candlehead, etc.).
• And Now You Must Marry Me: Garry's whole plan. Subverted later on when what Garry actually wanted was Vanellope's Source Code.
• Author Appeal: The author ships Gloyd and Vanellope, and one of the reasons behind the fic is that he doesn't feel like there's a lot of stories about them.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Larry kisses Jubileena as a thanks for her putting up with his behavior for most of the fic.
• Belated Love Epiphany: Crumbelina felt bad for how she treated Jimmy when he seemingly gets killed during the fourth race. Granted; Jimmy tried to convince Crumbelina to forfeit the race because he knew what Garry was capable of, and didn't want to see her get hurt.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Crumbelina and Jimmy. Also Gloyd and Vanellope, to an extent.
• The Bet: Most of the plot revolves around a bet between Vanellope and Garry. A ten-against-ten Grand Prix that goes through five tracks around Sugar Rush (two tracks on the Sweet Tooth kingdom, two tracks on the Candy kingdom, and the new track that goes through the entire game) using karts that allow for two people to ride (called Double Dash Karts). If Vanellope wins, all the candy in the Sweet Tooth kingdom goes to her. If Garry wins, Vanellope will be forced to become his wife.
• Big Bad: Garry, the ruler of the Sweet Tooth kingdom.
• Big "NO!": It's not exactly big but, Gloyd shouts "No!" when he thinks that Vanellope plans on surrendering in chapter 9, when she was actually planning on setting up more security around the track.
• Bond Breaker: Garry threatens to break Dough and Manny apart if they lose in the second race. They ultimately do lose, but Garry shows mercy by letting them remain partners.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Fang and Tea.
  • A somewhat gender flipped example with Taffyta and Rancis. While Taffyta is still portrayed as bit of a girly girl, she's definitely more competitive compared to the more calmer Rancis.
• Captain Ersatz: Taffyta and Rancis believe Fang to be a knockoff of Ryu due to Fang essentially looking like a younger version of him. Fang denies this, and claims that the headband that he wears was made for him by Tea.
• Casanova Wannabe: Jimmy, who constantly hits on Crumbelina despite her clear disdain towards him. She does warm up a bit to him by the end of the story, however.
• Cerebus Syndrome:
  • The second half of the story starts getting a lot more serious when Garry begins resorting to cheating in order to win the Grand Prix (such as blackmailing Dough by telling him that he and Manny won't be allowed to be partners anymore if they lose in the second race). It goes much farther when he rigs the track during the third race between Fang/Tea and Taffyta/Rancis, causing candy cane trees to fall and crush the latter's kart. Though they survive, they still lose due to their kart getting demolished. Fang also gets seriously injured when he uses his character item during the race, which pushes his code too hard and lands him in the hospital.
  • By then, Garry turns from a smug jerkass into an evil tyrant when he plants explosives on Larry/Jimmy's karts during the fourth race between them and Crumbelina/Jubileena. Larry survives, thanks to their kart snapping in half, but Jimmy wasn't so lucky.
  • And if that wasn't enough, Garry just so happens to have been keeping a horde of Cy-bugs on him locked away in a secret hive, having gotten a hold of several eggs that were leftover from the events of the film. He planned on unleashing them if everything else he had mind backfired. So in short, Garry basically decides on going to war with Vanellope if she didn't surrender.
• Chekhov's Gun: The egg that Garry has in chapter 3 returns about 3/4ths into the story, where it turns out to be what controls the Cy-bugs that he would eventually release into Sugar Rush.
• Dashing Hispanic: Larry de Lickerish. He doesn't really get a whole lot of action in the story, but he is shown to be very capable, competent, and is quite flirty.
• Deadpan Snarker: Too many characters to count.
• Demoted to Extra:
  • Ralph, Felix, and Calhoun are not nearly as important to the story as they were in the film. Though it makes sense, given that the fic places more focus on the racers rather than them.
  • Sour Bill only gets a few speaking cameos here and there, and he was merely a minor character in the film.
• Disney Death: During the third race, Larry and Jimmy's kart blows up after Garry plants explosives on it. While Larry survived thanks to being in the backseat when the kart snapped in half, Jimmy dies right before the eyes of everybody watching the race. However, he didn't regenerate on the spot, leading everybody to believe he permanently died. It later turns out that he survived thanks to having a chaos emerald on him which he "borrowed" from Sonic's game.
• The Ditz: Candlehead and Dough, who get quite a bit of Ship Tease throughout the story.
• The Dragon: Though they never really do anything bad, Sydney and Cindy serve as this to Garry for most of the story.
• Drama Bomb: A literal example with Jimmy and Larry's kart exploding with Jimmy still inside it in chapter 10.
• Enfant Terrible: Garry proves to be more than just a sarcastic jerk when his methods of cheating resort to taking out his own racers. Even going as far as to plant explosives on Jimmy and Larry's karts during their race. When the Candy kingdom ultimately ends up winning the Grand Prix, Garry decides to move on to his backup plan. That is, unleashing a horde of Cy-bug into Sugar Rush and essentially tries to force Vanellope to surrender.
• Easily Forgiven: When Garry reveals his true plan to Vanellope, which was to use the Source Code to fully unlock Sidney and Cindy, she doesn't hold much contempt over him afterwards. Although, she still acknowledges the horrible things he had done and is aware that everybody else won't be so forgiving.
• Everyone Can See It: Gloyd and Vanellope's feelings of each other are obvious to almost everybody, no matter how much they both deny it at first.
• Heel–Face Turn: Garry actually pulls one off near the end of the story. After he reveals that Sidney and Cindy were the only ones who cared about him and wanted the full Source Code to fully unlock the both of them, Vanellope tries to convince Garry to join her. However, he merely surrenders and leaves, knowing full well at just how much he betrayed his own kingdom.
• Finishing Each Other's Sentences: The Ca-Pop Rock Twins always finish each others sentences. For example, in chapter 6, when Swizzle teases the twins before their first race:
  Petty: For your last meal...
  Patrick: ...you're gonna eat those words.
• A Friend in Need:
  • Adorabeezle theorizes that the reason why Turbo became who he was in the film was because he didn't have any friends, thus nobody to stop him. She states that Turbo and Garry are very much alike, but the only difference between them is that Garry actually has friends, and tries to convince Sidney to talk some sense in Garry before it's too late.
  • Garry actually reveals near the end of the story that everything he has been doing was because Sidney and Cindy were his only friends. The siblings are actually unlockable characters, and Garry wanted to free them since they would lose their memories if the game were to be reset. However, he wasn't strong enough to do it completely, which is why he wanted Vanellope's half of the Source Code to achieve that.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Gloyd displayed signs of this in chapter 2, when Garry kissed Vanellope's hand which prompted him to swipe it away from Garry.
• Hate Sink: Garry. He lies, cheats, deliberately hurts his own racers, doesn't care about anybody other than Cindy and Sydney, and even tries to kill Jimmy halfway through the story.
• Heroic BSoD: Larry breaks down and becomes depressed beyond relief after his partner Jimmy gets blown up.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners:
  • Jimmy and Larry are very close friends, especially if Larry breaking down over Jimmy's supposed death was any indication.
  • Manny and Dough are also shown to be pretty close too. According to Tea, Dough is the only one Manny ever treats nicely.
  • Though they don't really get a whole lot of moments together and they often tease each other, Gloyd, Swizzle, and Rancis are practically a small Band of Brothers.
  • Might also apply to the Ca-Pop Rock Twins, given how they're never seen separated from each other.
• Hot-Blooded:
  • Most of the male racers, particularly Gloyd, Swizzle, Jimmy, Sidney, Manny, and Fang.
  • Though that doesn't mean the female racers don't have some hot blood too. Vanellope, Cindy, and Taffyta stand out from the rest.
• It's All My Fault: Vanellope, after Fang gets injured protecting Taffyta and Rancis during the third race, laments that everybody is practically risking their lives just because of a bet she accepted.
• KidAnova: Larry, the flirt. Though the only girl for him is Jubileena, he did initially try to seduce Taffyta when they first met.
• Latin Lover: Again, Larry, as he's very suave and often flirts with Jubileena.
• MacGuffin: The Source Code that appears near the end of the story. It's rather interesting, since it was never mentioned or foreshadowed at any point, but it's something that Garry had been searching for. According to him, the Source Code is what holds a game together, and those who possess it will be allowed to change up their game anyway they want to. Garry wanted it so badly because he wanted to fully unlock Sidney and Cindy. But because the Source Code got split in half when the update happened, his half wasn't strong enough to completely free them.
  • In fact, it was how Vanellope was even able to reset Sugar Rush in the film, but was completely unaware that she even had it in her (let alone did she know something of which even existed).
• Mama Bear: Fallowing the Cy-Bug incident from the film, Calhoun has become sort of a mother figure towards Vanellope.
• Men Don't Cry: In chapter 9, Gloyd states that boys don't cry after Vanellope teases him when he mistakes her idea to increase security around the track for the mere thought of surrendering to Garry. Vanellope responds by saying, "Tell that to Felix."
• Moment Killer: Also from chapter 9, the moment between Gloyd and Vanellope when they were sitting on the roof of the castle gets ruined when Sour Bill shows up, angry at Gloyd for sneaking into the castle as he doesn't let anybody in after midnight.
• Mooning: Petty moons Swizzle and Minty during the race between them in chapter 6, much to the disgust of all the girls (and the laughter of Jimmy, Dough, and Manny).
• Not Allowed to Grow Up: Quite literally. According to Vanellope in the first chapter, she states that her and Gloyd getting married and having kids would be impossible since they don't age. Given that they're characters within a video game, it would make sense that they would be programmed to stay the same age matter how long their games stand.
• Not So Above It All: Fang, the quite and serious one, actually manages to crack a smile when Petty shows Swizzle and Minty the full moon during the first race.
• Oblivious to Love: Both Candlehead and Dough. According to the author, the fact that they're both incredibly dense is the reason why they don't get a whole lot of moments together, as romance would practically just fly right over their heads.
• Original Character: All of the Sweet Tooth racers and various extras who weren't present in the film were created by the author.
• Post-Kiss Catatonia: Jubileena gets all shaky when she receives her First Kiss from Larry.
• Punch a Wall: Following the rewrite of the first chapter, Jimmy punches a nearby candy corn to give Gloyd the impression of what would happen if he, Rancis, and Swizzle didn't introduce them to the Candy Kingdom's ruler (Vanellope).
• Rejection Affection: Crumbelina constantly turns Jimmy down whenever he flirts with her, which happens throughout most of the story.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl:
  • An inverted example with Swizzle and Minty. Swizzle is a hot blooded daredevil while Minty is the one who tries to keep him out of trouble.
  • This is semi-played straight with Fang and Tea. While Tea is calm and level-headed, she's still far more upbeat compared to Fang.
  • There's also Rancis and Taffyta again. Rancis can be a bit childish at times (considering that he is a child), but he's mostly shown to be gentle, calm, and prone to nervousness at times. Taffyta, on the other hand, is more hot blooded, sarcastic, and a tad quick to anger.
• Shapeshifter: Near the end of the story, Garry gains the ability to shapeshift with the help of his half of the Source Code.
• Single-Minded Twins: The Capop-Rock twins. Really, the only difference between them is that Petty wears red while Patrick wears blue.
• Sliding Scale of Gender Inequality: Lampshaded by Gloyd who said that the voting to go to the Sweet Tooth kingdom in the first chapter was unfair because there's only three boys out of eleven (the girls all voted to go to the new kingdom).
  • As for the Sweet Tooth racers, there's only two girls while the rest are all boys.
• The Quiet One/The Stoic: Fang starts off as a silent and rather serious person, but becomes a lot more expressive as the story progresses.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Cindy is the tomboy to Tea's girly girl. In fact, this is why Tea can never gossip with Cindy since she's not into that stuff.
  • Adorabeezle is implied to be one, given how she isn't much of a gossipy person ether.
• Tom the Dark Lord: Garry Gumball. It fits with his candy theme but it most certainly doesn't fit with his Enfant Terrible behavior.
• Villainous Crush: Subverted with Garry; he only wants to marry Vanellope solely so he could have full control over all of Sugar Rush and to obtain her Source Code.
  • An inverted example with Cindy, who has a rather problematic crush on Garry.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Again, subverted with Garry, as Sidney and Cindy were his only friends.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Garry in the second to last chapter: it turns out he wanted the Source Code so he could unlock Sidney and Cindy, who are unlockable characters. Unfortunately, while he was able to unlock them, his half of the Source Code wasn't enough to free them for good. Which is why he had been chasing after Vanellope, thinking that she wasn't going to give him her half of the code.
• Women Are Wiser: Most of the male racers are pretty dense and/or arrogant compared to the more level-headed female racers.

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