Author's Note: I know that I should probably be focusing on writing my other story, "Before the Game," but I had this idea earlier and just had to write it! I hope you enjoy!
It had been an incredibly busy day at Litwak's Family Fun Center, and therefore, the arcade portion, which was one of the most popular areas in the building, was even more packed than usual. There had been lines for nearly every game, and the characters had begun to get fairly tired of working, no matter how much they liked their jobs. Even Vanellope Von Schweetz, who loved competing against all of the other candy-coated characters in Sugar Rush more than anything, began to groan at even the mention of the word "race." Wreck-It Ralph was getting increasingly sick of being thrown off the roof, despite the fact that it was usually his favorite part of the gameplay in Fix-It Felix Jr. Felix himself was incredibly worn out, as well. But their exhaustion didn't even begin to compare to that of Sgt. Tamora Jean Calhoun.
Her game, Hero's Duty, had been popular from the day that it was plugged in, but she'd never had that many players in one day before. Hero's Duty was fairly stressful to be in, regardless, and having to fight Cy-Bugs nearly constantly had worn the typically intense and energetic woman out to the point where she wanted nothing more than to lay down and go to sleep. During the middle of the day, she joked to one of her fellow soldiers that she was considering "going Turbo" herself just to get a break. As the day went on, it started feeling less and less like a joke. But, she had seen the outcomes of someone leaving their game because of their discontent with their own, and it wasn't pretty. So, she fought through it. Literally. Therefore, she was by far the most relieved when Mr. Litwak locked up for the night. Now she could finally relax and actually spend time with her husband, Fix-It Felix. Ever since their wedding, they had barely gotten any time together. Whether there was a problem with the plumbing in the Nicelanders' apartment building, or the beacon made to attract the Cy-Bugs wouldn't turn off, depriving everyone of a good night's sleep due to the bright light; something always seemed to come up that prevented the two from seeing each other. But today, Calhoun was determined not to let that happen. As the beacon incinerated the last of the Cy-Bugs and flickered off, much to her relief, as she wasn't sure that the new repairs would work after such a busy day, she turned and headed towards the train into Game Central Station. Just as she started through the passageway, however, a bright light began to shine behind her. She groaned in a mix of anguish and irritation.
"Don't tell me the beacon is malfunctioning again!" She grumbled to Kohut; another character in Hero's Duty.
"It really doesn't look like it." He replied, turning to face the source of the light. "But it does look like it's coming from the tower."
"Guess I'll have to check it out." She sighed with a glance towards the exit before grabbing her cruiser and heading over as fast as she could. She wanted to find the problem and deal with it as quickly as possible. When she got there, however, she realized that it wouldn't be quite that simple, and she mentally kicked herself. Nothing in Hero's Duty ever seemed to be simple. Whoever programmed this game needs to get a life, she often thought. We would be just as successful without all of these complicated, irrelevant details. But, she had no control over the game's programming. While the arcade characters could gain access to the code, it was incredibly difficult to make even a small change without messing up the entire game. This fact is the main reason why no one caught on to Turbo's scheme, and while Tamora would never admit it; the reason that she had been incredibly impressed by it. No matter what Turbo's intentions had been, it still took brains to make the incredibly complicated changes that he had made. When Felix first told her about Turbo, he hadn't exactly come across as someone all that clever. Sometimes she wondered what he could have accomplished if he hadn't been caught. The mere thought made her shudder. But she couldn't afford to think about that now, as right in front of her was what looked like a wormhole opening inside the building. Her eyes widened, and she flew up to the window, putting her face against the glass to get a better view. Suddenly, the pull of whatever it was inside the building became too strong, and the window shattered, forcing her to be pulled towards the middle of the building. She tried as hard as she could to get away, but the force was so strong that it could have knocked Wreck-It Ralph himself off his feet, so Sgt. Calhoun didn't stand a chance. In a final effort, she desperately grabbed for something to hold on to, but it was too late, and she was pulled inside with a scream, and the entity vanished.
When her eyes blinked open, she was in an entirely different game. She didn't recognize it, but Hero's Duty was still fairly new, so she figured that there was a good chance that she had just not seen it yet. She stood up slowly, looking around some more. She soon realized that she was in the middle of a racetrack, though it was certainly different than the detailed, candy-filled roadways of Sugar Rush. It was a simple, oval track. The bleachers on the side were filled with multicolored pixels that didn't even resemble people; or spectators of any kind, for that matter.
"This must be some old 8-bit game." She said to herself. "Why that thing sent me here, I can't begin to fathom. Once again, our programmer really needs to get a life." Her head turned, and she saw a small exit marked Game Central Station. She smiled and started towards it, looking forward to seeing her husband's reaction to her story. He would probably get all worried and protective until he realized how minor it really was, and then he would chuckle and blush once he realized just how hilarious he looked to his wife, who dealt with stranger, more frightening things daily. "Golly, Tammy Jean." He would probably say. "The things you go through would have me completely unhinged! I don't know how you do it! Things like that are what make you such a dynamite gal!"
But that wasn't what happened. Maybe she would have realized that something was out of the ordinary -even more so than usual- if she had looked outside and seen that the game that she was in was in the same exact place as Hero's Duty. And maybe, she would have started looking more carefully in suspicion and seen the sign by the door that read: You are now leaving TurboTime. Come again soon!
What did you think so far? I would love to hear everyone's opinions and would really appreciate it if you'd leave a review. Thank you for reading!