Every night it was the same dream.
There he was, trapped by that…monster that was once turbo, both floating above Diet Cola Mountain, the mentos just needing one more push. The Cybugs buzzed under them, a metallic plague seeking to devour all. And to think that Ralph was responsible for all of it.
"Ain't it marvelous, Ralph? All of this…yours. My, my, Ralph. I didn't know you had it in you. You know, it reminds me of me."
A surge of indignation arose in Ralph's heart and exploded from his lips.
"I'm nothing like you!" Ralph exclaimed, his head turning enough to see him out of the corner of his eye.
He just floated there, a blank look in his face. Then chortles began to leak from his slowly curling mouth as dark mirth began to twinkle in his eyes. The laughter grew and grew until they were thunderous sounds in Ralph's ears.
"HAHAHAHAHA! Oh, that is rich! You should have been a comedian, Ralph. You think you say that with a straight face?" He began to move Ralph around, until the Wrecker was staring face to face with the anagram.
"Ralph, you and me are quite similar. Both of us wanted respect, and were willing to do anything to get it. Neither of us thought about what it would do to others and neither did we did care."
"You're wrong! I care!" Ralph shouted as he struggled to release himself out of the bug's grip. King Candy's grin only got deeper as he leaned.
"Oh… you care? Well tell me, did you care for those nicelanders by remembering their names, or just hoped that they would return the favor? Do you care enough to be nice to because it is right, or because you hope someone will be nice back? Did you care enough for that brat just to come back or was it just to redeem yourself in her eyes?"
"I…" Ralph could only stare as the impact of those words made themselves known. Turbo looked disappointed.
"Come on, Ralphie. It's just so simple. Can't you name one solitary thing that makes you different than me?"
At Ralph's silence, the cy-bug looked disappointed.
"Aww… The Wrecker looks like he's wrecked. Don't worry, Ralph. You can do plenty of thinking where you're going." With that, he raised the claws and brought them down.
Ralph gasped as he sat up suddenly, his hands pressing on the bed frame below. Suddenly, the bed collapsed, taking the brunt of Ralph's destructive power. He began to breath hard, both from the dream and his bed collapsing with him still on top. As his eyes began to adjust in the dark, he sighed as he untangled himself from his sheets. No use trying to get back to sleep, and he should really remember to ask Felix to fix his head.
The rest of the night he spent sitting on the once great brick mountain, his back supported by his old sleeping stump. While he didn't exactly use this spot for sleeping anymore, it still made a great place for him to stay and think. His eyes just stared at the dark buildings that housed the Nicelanders and Q-bert characters.
That dream haunted him, and he felt ashamed for it even getting to him. That incident was long ago, taking its place among the arcade's memory. He should have been able to just shake it off, and go right back into sleep after the nightmare jitters were over. Yet, he wasn't, and those words that Turbo, or King Candy, or whatever he was…
As often as he spoke them, they still cut him just as deep.
"Gee, Ralph. Are you okay?" Fix-it Felix asked as everyone cleaned up the place. It was a busy day at the arcade, and Fix-It Felix Jr. got a moderate amount of playtime. While not enough to be tiring to Felix, it looked to be a burden on Ralph, who looked like he was straining to pound the bricks.
"Yeah, I'm good." Ralph nodded as he fixed one of the upturned bushes in front of the apartment complex.
Now if Felix hadn't known better, he would have accepted that answer and moved on. He would have reasoned that Ralph was the tough guy of the two, he probably could take it. However, Felix knew better this time.
"Ralph, at least look me in the eye and say you're fine." Felix said with a bit of steel in his voice and his arms crossed.
Ralph stood there for a moment, before sighing and turning around. "I'm fine, Felix."
However, by this time, Felix disregarded Ralph's weak claim as he looked at Ralph. "Geez Louise! Ralph, you look awful!"
Ralph stood there, with bloodshot eyes and begs under them. While Felix doubted that the wrecker would just fall down at any moment, it looked the bed would be right where he would be heading first.
"Hey, don't worry about it, Felix. Just having a hard time sleeping, that's all." Ralph tried to assure Felix with a quick smile.
He should have known that wouldn't be enough to discourage the perpetually positive fixer. Soon, a few people began to pay him visits in the night to help Ralph with their own methods of curing their restlessness.
BABABABABABABABABABABABABABA BABABABABA
"NO, no! That's not how you do it!"
Ralph stopped firing the minigun and raised an eyebrow at Calhoun, who was frowning in disapproval.
"What? I'm firing the gun, just as you wanted." Calhoun shook her head as she took the minigun out of Ralph's hands, before revving it up.
"Just follow what I do."
As soon she spoke those words, the minigun began to expel rounds, punching holes into the pile of debris.
BABABABABABABABABABABABABABA BABABABABABABABABA
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGG GGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Calhoun screamed as she continued to jam the debris with lead.
As soon as she stopped screaming, she let go of the trigger and turned to Ralph.
"You gotta do it like that."
Ralph stood there, mildly unimpressed. "So…Shoot stuff with a minigun and scream like a maniac?"
Calhoun frowned.
"I'm still holding the gun here, Ralph."
Tears were beginning to leak from Ralph's eyes from a combination of chocolate dust getting into his eyes, as a smidgen of fear.
"MIND TELLING ME HOW THIS IS SUPPOSED TO HELP?!" Ralph shouted as he held on the kart as tightly as he could without breaking off pieces.
"THIS IS HOW I RELAX AFTER EVERYTHING, RALPH!" Vanellope shouted over the roar of her kart.
"I THINK I'M GOING TO BE SICK!" Ralph screamed as he fought his gorge.
"DON'T WORRY, MY MAN! THAT'S THE ADRENALINE PUMPING THROUGH YOUR VEINS!" Vanellope shouted. Then she spied something that made her eyes twinkle with excitement.
"ALRIGHT, RALPH, LET'S PUMP SOME MORE OF THAT ADRENALINE!"
Ralph spied the same thing that Vanellope was driving towards and promptly paled.
"KID, WAIT, HOLD ON, STOP! AUGH!"
Eliot and E.T. would have been jealous.
"Alright, Zangief, mind telling me why I have to wear this?" Ralph groused as he tried to adjust the red wrestling trunks into a more comfortable position with little success.
"Ralph, in this great sport, one must dress accordingly." Zangief explained as he stretched his arm across his chest.
"Wait, sport?" Ralph took a double take at Zangief.
"Yes, here's my solution to sleeping troubles: TWO HOUR WRESTLING MATCH!" With that, the Russian Wrestler pounced on Ralph.
Ralph was promptly twisted into a pretzel.
"Alright, closing time!" Felix announced as soon as he saw that the arcade had closed. As the nicelanders began to enter the building, Gene looked at Felix who was still standing on the roof.
"Felix, you coming?" Felix turned to Gene and gave a smile.
"Don't worry, I'll just stay out here for a while." Gene nodded, before closing the door.
Felix stood there for a while, before turning to the edge of the building.
"Ralph, you could use the door, you know." Felix said as Ralph climbed onto the roof.
Ralph looked at the door before shaking his head. "Maybe when you make it bigger."
Felix mentally compared the door to Ralph's size. "Yeah, I guess I better get on that when I have the time. So, Ralph, what's on your mind?"
Ralph sighed as he rubbed his face. "Felix, can you tell everyone to stop trying to help with my sleeping problem?"
The fixer looked a little confused. "Why, Ralph? They just want to help."
Ralph nodded as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, and I apprepiciate that. But…the thing is…"
Felix watched Ralph's shoulders slump as Ralph began to look increasingly down.
"It's these dreams I've been having…"
Felix sat on the edge of the building and patted a spot next to him. "Want to talk about it?"
Ralph stared, before sitting down himself.
It was the same dream tonight. It was the same scene tonight. It was the same maniacal thing tonight.
"Come on, Ralphie. Can't you name one solitary thing that makes you different from me?"
If it was a few nights ago, Ralph would have hesitated. He would have stopped to think his answer over. He would have let the words get to him.
No longer.
With four words, he shouted that he knew. With four words, he would explain why their game was still up while his rotted in some dump. With four words, he exclaimed how he could look in the mirror and still see his face. With four words, he demonstrated why he was no longer alone.
With four words, he proved to himself that as similar as he was to Turbo, he would never be the same.
"I'M GONNA FIX IT!"
AN: So yesterday, I just turned 19. That's right! So please leave a review, favorite, what have you. It can be your little birthday present to me.