Nothing but a Glitch

[Angel]

Glitch... Stray... No matter what word was used, it seemed to Angel that she and Vanellope really were similar. It sounded like no one wanted Vanellope around back home, which was how Angel felt in regards to all the times she'd been abandoned before ultimately giving up and settling with junkyard dog life. However, she didn't think it was fair. Neither of them had done anything to warrant such hatred from anybody, and even though Angel hadn't the slightest clue about what video games were or what glitches did, she wasn't about to let Taffyta continue to be hateful toward her friend.

"So, because she's the human equivalent of a stray, you hate her? Even if she hasn't done anything wrong as far as I know?" Angel asked. She didn't even try to tell Taffyta her name; whether or not one human could remember a name as simple as hers was of little importance to the mixed breed as long as she could defend her friend. A scowl formed on the small dog's features as she prepared to continue. Taffyta had unknowingly touched upon a sore spot within Angel, and she wasn't about to let the blonde get away with it.

"Since when did existing become a crime? What is it about her existence that makes it any wronger than yours? You think you're so high and mighty, just because you can knock someone down for being different, but you're no better than a mindless mongrel! I suppose that, if you were in a dog's body living a wonderful life, you'd think yourself better than the dogs that have to scrape together a living with no one looking out for them but themselves, too. You're so caught up in your idea of perfection that you've resorted to bullying someone for being different! Not only that, but calling anyone who associates with her a freak, too!"

Angel gently eased herself from having the nape of her neck scratched and stepped closer to Taffyta. Her voice had shifted from soft, warning growls to loud and threatening. Just how much of a threat she could pose with such a little body was uncertain, but Angel didn't care.

"Well, guess what. I don't care if Vanellope is a glitch or whatever it is you called her. She's a better person than you'll ever be. And even if I'm not her dog, I intend to stick by her."

[Vanellope]

And there it was. Angel knew exactly what she was now, and no matter how much Vanellope might try to protest it, it was hard to argue against what everyone else percieved as the truth. Maybe if she ever became a racer, Vanellope thought, things might finally be different; but until then, as far as anyone from Sugar Rush was concerned, she was a mistake. Vanellope stared down at her feet, her hands falling to hang limply at her sides, not even knowing how to defend herself from Taffyta's words. What could she say? Sometimes, she was sure that she was more than just a glitch... but it was so hard to believe that when everyone else said otherwise.

Out the corner of her lowered eyes, Vanellope cast a quick glance at Angel. The dog had stood by her so far, it was true; but now that she knew the full detail of what the girl was, Vanellope didn't dare to hope that the pomeranian would continue to want anything to do with her. Who'd ever care about a glitch?

Evidently, Angel would. Before Vanellope could say anything else, the small canine had stepped forward, growling at Taffyta - in her defence. To say that Vanellope was completely thrown by Angel's action would be a vast understatement. No-one had ever stood up for her before, and even as she wasn't sure what to make of it, Vanellope felt a great rush of affection for the little dog. Scrambling back to her feet, her sense of defiance renewed, Vanellope stepped up behind Angel, backing up her protector. "Yeah, we're stickin' together," she echoed resolutely. She wasn't sure that the two of them, even together, would be a match for Taffyta if it came down to it - Angel was small and for herself, Vanellope had no combat skills to speak of - but it felt so good to have someone standing at her side as they faced down the other girl.

[Deleted]

Tafftya snorted as if the idea of sticking together was ridiculous. "Yeah, sticking together is a good idea. Hope that lasts." she said with little excitement. "Getting cocky in the area will probably cost you your life. Though i doubt your life had much meaning anyways Vanellope." She hoped those last words stung, even with the dog beside her, Tafftya knew that the whole glitch thing was a rough spot with Vanellope. Adjusting her tie, Tafftya's blue eyes roamed around the halls of the school.

The school was much bigger than Sugar Rush, and the girl was looking forward to roaming it in due time, but right now, right now she wanted to be sure that Vanellope knew her place.

[Vanellope]

Even used to them as Vanellope was, Taffyta was right; her words did sting, and the little glitch winced. However with Angel's reassurung presence at her side, they didn't smart nearly as much as they might have back home. The fact that there was someone in the world who believed she was worth defending, who didn't believe that she hadn't even been meant to exist, boosted her morale and enabled her to stand her ground, facing the racer defiantly. Still, however, some uncertainty danced behind her hazel eyes, revealing that something of Taffyta's words had still cut her.

"You're not exactly programmed for fightin' either," Vanellope pointed out, hooking her thumbs into the waistband of her skirt as she faced down Taffyta. She wasn't trying to goad the other racer on, but figured that was worth pointing out. True, if the two of them were to brawl, Taffyta would come out on top; but that wasn't saying much. The pink-themed racer wasn't any better equipped to deal with the arena fights than she was, so far as Vanellope was aware; what made her so confident that she would last longer?


(ooc: pst, Taffyta; if, by any chance, you want to assault Vanellope physically as well as just verbally at any point, I'm fine with that ^^)

[Deleted]

(ooc: sounds good. I'll do that later)

Tafftya shook her head, her blue eyes filled with little interest. She didn't actually care what Vanellope was saying. She shouldn't have even bothered to acknowledge her words. "I may not be programmed to fight but I bet I am more capable than you." she said, walking close to Vanellope and flicking her forehead with two of her fingers. "In fact, I bet the air circle is more capable to fight than yours." As if reading Vanellope's mind, she took out another lollipop and sticking in her mouth. "I know for a fact that I can last longer to, because I have smarts, I know how to make allies...you on the other hand. Well, you have a dog as a friend."

[Angel]

"Funny. For someone who claims she knows how to make allies, you sure don't look like you have many," Angel remarked. As for whether or not Taffyta or Vanellope could fight, Angel was convinced that neither girl should have even attempted it. Rather, she thought Vanellope was better off staying out of a fight. She didn't want to see the one friend she had getting pulverized in the arena or pummeled by this blonde.

"That attitude of yours is probably going to get you killed sooner or later. You wouldn't last five minutes where I come from," Angel said. That was a statement of truth, at least to her. The way Taffyta acted may have been appealing to some other dogs, but it was just appalling to Angel. It was only proof for the stray of how ugly some humans could be. The only reason Angel was trusting of Vanellope was because there appeared to be similarities between the two. Otherwise, she'd have been wary around her. At the very least, Angel felt confident in saying that Vanellope wasn't an ugly human being.

[Vanellope]

Vanellope's body glitched once more as Taffyta flicked her forehead, the tremor of blue code spreading out from the point of impact briefly and pushing the girl back a pace. She glanced down at Angel briefly, then defiantly back at Taffyta. What was wrong with having a dog as a friend, anyway? Angel was better than just about everyone else Vanellope had ever encountered - present company definitely included - and the glitched girl didn't care what Taffyta thought of it. She was proud to have a friend like the small dog.

"Why're you even here, anyway? I thought you'd be happy back in Sugar Rush without me around," Vanellope finally asked the question that had been lingering on her mind for some time, fiddling slightly with the knot of her tie as she did. It didn't make sense to her. Taffyta was the most popular racer on the block after King Candy himself; Vanellope couldn't understand why the blonde girl would have given all that up just to come here and torment her some more. She knew Taffyta hated her, but coming here just to make her life miserable seemed rather extreme to the little glitch.

[Deleted]

Tafftya cast her glance down at Angel. "Like I really care about where you come from dog." she said, before turning to Vanellope. The girl did have her point of the girl being happy that she was not around Sugar Rush anymore. She wasn't about to be grateful for that though. "Why should I have to explain myself to you?" she asked. She had received the invitation, it would have been rude not to accept it. Plus, she wanted to see just what this school had to offer. But to tell that to a glitch and a dog like these two. It was not in her interest to do so.

[Angel]

"You'd care because, if you were from there, you wouldn't be bragging so much. You don't look like you'd last even close to five minutes in a real fight, let alone in the real world," Angel said. It was a matter of fact. Taffyta looked like one of those snobby girls that belonged on Snob Hill, the kind who knew nothing about the outside world or the dangers it held. No, if this girl were a dog she'd probably be as much of a stuck up little brat as she seemed to be then and there. Besides, Vanellope made a good point. If Taffyta hated the girl with candy sprinkled in her hair so much, why did she insist on coming of the school for the sole purpose of tormenting her? It made no sense to her. After sparing a quick glance back to see if Vanellope was all right from the glitching, she looked Taffyta's way again and frowned.

"If all you've come to do is belittle us for being different, I suggest moving along. We were going to hang out before you decided to barge in," Angel said. What was the worst Taffyta could do to them, anyway? Angel had her little teeth to back her up if things went awry, and she had a feeling they could probably outrun her anyway. The way the little mixed breed saw it, things would look up for them no matter what happened. She and Vanellope were friends, whereas Taffyta appeared to have no one. And really, how far could harsh words take her in the end?

[Vanellope]

"I just don't understand why you can't leave me be! I'm not botherin' anyone by being here!" There was anger in Vanellope's tone, genuine anger. She sort of understood Taffyta and the others going out of their way to be mean to her in Sugar Rush, since King Candy had made it clear time and again that she was not to be tolerated anywhere in 'his' world; but here, they were way beyond his jurisdiction. His rules didn't have to apply here, so couldn't Taffyta just lay off of her for once? It wasn't as though she was doing anyone any harm.

Not that that argument would get her anywhere. To Taffyta and the others, just her existing was a crime enough, and their life's aim seemed to be to make her regret that fact. But here in this world, with Angel at her side, Vanellope decided she wasn't going to be so easily bullied by the other girl. Would this end badly for her? Probably. But the small dog's defence of her was giving the glitched girl a courage she hadn't known before, and she didn't want to back down while Angel was standing up for her.

[Deleted]

Tafftya decided not to pay any attention to the dog at the moment and turned back to Vanellope. "Letting you be, that's not how it works Vanellope." she replied. "You started this by showing up in our game, if you weren't ever there then well, we wouldn't be here right now would we?" She clicked her tongue before speaking. "You get what I am saying right?" If not, then Tafftya was going to enjoy what she was about to say even more. "You, shouldn't even be around, you should have been erased, deleted however you want to think it."

She turned her attention back to Angel and rolled her eyes. "Your world and mine are different dog." she turned to start to walk away. "Oh, and if you think that I am the worse out there at this school, then you haven't met everyone in this school."

[Vanellope]

"You think I would have chosen to be a part of our game with how you all treat me?" That was what it sounded like Taffyta was accusing her of, at least to Vanellope, and the little glitched girl could hardly believe it. She would rather not have been stuck as part of Sugar Rush just as much as the everyone else wished she wasn't; the fact that there was nothing she could do about it wasn't her fault. She hadn't made the rules that said glitches couldn't leave their game, or Taffyta and the others would have long been rid of her.

"That's only what King Candy says," she retorted, another brief spasm of glitching siezing her. She knew everyone believed it was true, but being told straight out that she should have been deleted still stung like a sharp slap to the face. "Even if I am a glitch, I could be a racer just like you guys," she blurted out. If only she had any means of getting a kart. Or of paying her way into the race at all. Still, the point held, so far as she was concerned. She wasn't so different from any of the other racers, not really.

[Angel]

There was a king involved, too? Now things were really beginning to sound messed up in Angel's mind. Why would a king, a ruler who was supposed to look out for his people, have something against Vanellope's existence? ...Wait, that was a dumb question. Angel knew better than to assume that every king was just and kind. After all, Buster was the very sort of king that would leave his subjects behind in a heartbeat. 'Buster's trouble is Buster's trouble', after all. If this King Candy was anything like Buster, he would have to have held some kind of ridiculous hatred for something like Buster hated house pets.

...Huh. Why had she begun thinking about him, anyway? She was free of Buster, and Vanellope was free of this King Candy. The two of them didn't have to worry so much anymore what others thought and what their rules were. So, she let a puff of air escape through her nose and shook her head. They clearly were getting nowhere with Taffyta, and so she thought it was better to just move on.

"Come on, Vanellope. We're not getting anywhere with her at this point. The most we've done is gone in circles. If she wants to think she's better than us, that's her business," Angel said at length. She shook her head and motioned with a paw in the direction opposite to Taffyta.

"Let's just go. She's not worth our time, anyway."

[Vanellope]

(ooc: Oops, I thought I'd already replied to this ^^")

"Yeah, you're right." Taffyta had started walking away by now, anyway, so Vanellope figured she should just be glad this hadn't gone any worse than it had and that the blonde girl hadn't resorted to pushing her or anything else physical. The glitched girl led the way in the direction Angel had indicated, away from Taffyta and any other hurtful words she might have had to fling after them. A little further along the corridor, she entered a stairwell leading down to the ground floor, then paused to check that the small dog was still with her.

Once the door had closed behind them, Vanellope looked down at Angel. She still couldn't quite believe what had just happened; the dog had stood up for her, despite knowing exactly what she was. Dark-haired girl frowned and sat down on one of the steps, in no real hurry to head down and risk running into Taffyta again. "Why did you do that?" she equired softly, fidgeting with her tie the same way she would have with her hoodie strings, had she been wearing it. "Taffyta 'n the others are right, I am just a glitch."

[Angel]

Steadfastly, Angel trotted along behind Vanellope and followed the girl to the stairwell. Once there, and once Vanellope was seated, Angel took up the spot beside her and found herself being posed a question. Namely, why she had stuck up for Vanellope. It was a fair question, she supposed. Anyone else might have just let Taffyta torment the poor girl and pretended it had never happened. Hell, that was likely what any of the other junkyard dogs would have done. They'd all had it drilled into their heads to look out for no one but themselves by Buster, and Angel had seen for herself what happened to dogs who tried to rely to heavily on others. They only got dropped on their asses and empty-pawed when all was said and done. So why had Angel done that?

"No one deserves to be treated that way. Besides, if I'm perfectly honest, I don't even know what a glitch is," Angel said. Sure Taffyta had told them that it was something that wasn't meant to exist, but Angel didn't believe that. If that were true then Vanellope wouldn't have been living and breathing. It seemed absolutely ludicrous to Angel to think that someone wasn't meant to exist, especially when Vanellope seemed like such a kind girl buried beneath the hurt of being tormented. ...Much like herself.

"Anyway. You're different from the other humans I've known. Whether or not you're what that other girl says doesn't matter to me. You're not like her. You're... Good, and decent, and... Kind."

Angel ducked her head down a bit and dragged her blunt claws against the stairs for a moment. It must have sounded so dumb, but what did she care? Her words seemed true enough. They just needed a bit of elaborating upon.

"Besides that, I... I don't think we're that different, Vanellope..."

Whether or not Vanellope questioned that thought was entirely in fate's hands now. Angel almost kind of hoped the girl would ask. She had her own reasons to believe they were similar and, truth be told, she was kind of getting tired of dancing around the issue of her status as a stray. Since they were in the same circle and she did trust Vanellope to more of a degree than anyone else, Angel thought that maybe she could tell her that much. ...But only if Vanellope was willing to listen.