See You Again
A/N: Alrighty, as Wreck-It Ralph is to be released this Friday, my patience has hit an all-time low. My solution- Fanfiction. Each chapter that I will eventually post will include five drabbles, until I hopefully reach fifty. I'm going to try and hold off on the spoilers until the movie hits theaters, though there is one mention of Turbo in one of these drabbles (the fourth one, if you were wondering).
((Oh, and Felix & Calhoun are my OTP, so there will probably be a lot of them here :D))
I accept any and all constructive criticism, drabbles suggestions, and so on! And if you read, please leave a comment!
Wreck-It Ralph (c) Walt Disney Pictures
01. One Truly is the Loneliest Number
For Ralph, visiting Root Beer Tapper was often a lonesome affair.
Most of them composed of him trudging in; avoiding the gazes of any heroes seated at the bar as he claimed a table in the farthest corner of the room while he waited for his order.
He sat at that table now, but this time he was far from alone. Vanellope was on the stool next to him, standing so that she could properly reach her drink, and giddily blowing bubbles into her root beer through a straw, making him laugh at the ridiculous faces she pulled.
"Hey, Ralph, look-" Vanellope began eagerly, only for her to swallow her soda too quickly and the anguishing sensation of carbonated gas to bubble in her nose.
As the girl collapsed against the counter-top, hacking and gagging exaggeratedly, Ralph felt laughter blossom from his throat as he sympathetically patted his best friend on the back.
Ralph would never frequent Root Beer Tapper alone again, that was for sure.
02. Couple
Just by looking at Tamora and I, most characters wouldn't think we were together, or, heck, even knew each other!
We could walk past each other in Game Central Station without sayin' a word to the other—and while these little moments happened quite often, they darn near break my heart every time.
The few times I've publicly brought Tami to Niceland (and I'm only allowed to call her that in my mind, thank you), I've introduced her only as a friend. She… intimidates the Nicelanders, to put it kindly, even more so than Ralph ever did, though Gene does try his best to hide it.
They'll leave us alone sometimes, but we still won't drop the act—Tami and I both know that the Nicelanders are probably just around the corner, waiting to catch anything they could gossip about. Tami and I don't give 'em anything and they've steadily gone to believe there really is nothing between us. Now of course, Ralph knows better, but is wise enough to keep his mouth shut about it—after considerable pleading on my part, at least.
But the thing is I have got to take things slow with Tamora. She's been hurt somethin' awful so many times, let down even more, that I must be careful around her. Anything could trigger an onslaught of memories to return to her, memories she doesn't want resurfaced, but that take hold of her just the same. They suffocate her, close in like a vice—being with her is like walking on eggshells.
But it's worth it.
Because some nights, long after the Nicelanders have gone to bed and Ralph has departed to Sugar Rush or Root Beer Tapper, Tamora will come visit me, or I'll go visit her occasionally, and we'll sit on the steps of the Niceland apartment building, sometimes talking for hours or staying quiet for just as long, our hands entwined for the duration of either period.
"You'll have to be patient with me, Fix-It," she'll say sometimes, and I'd squeeze her hand and reassure her that I would.
I would wait an eternity for her if I had to.
But a broken heart isn't an easy thing to fix, but hey, I was Fix-It Felix. I'd find a way.
03. Burning
Sugar Rush made no sense to Ralph.
The concept of a world made entirety out of candy was still alien to him, and every new thing he learned about that world confused him to no end. The rain that fell now, or at least some poor replacement for it in the form of chocolate milk, nonsensical as it was, did nothing to stop the hulking man from his directive. Falling in a thin drizzle when he'd first stormed through the entrance of Sugar Rush, it now came down in a never-ending torrent, a monsoon of the most illogical of proportions, but Ralph scarcely paid attention to it.
"Something's wrong. Vanellope's hurt."
The warning had come from the mouth of one of the racers—Ralph couldn't remember which one—the instant his game had finished. There had been another player waiting, but the wrecker had departed without even a glance over his shoulder, flying past the racer that had told him the news.
In Sugar Rush now, running as fast as his legs would allow, Ralph made a beeline for the race track. He saw nothing else, and nothing else mattered.
He plowed through candy trees, lollipop sticks, and the like, each snapping and falling before him like cardboard. He didn't feel any of it. Not the chill of the air and rain, not the slight twinge of pain as splinters of candy and wood dug into his knuckles—only the tightening in his chest was felt, constricting with every step until it felt like his heart would burst from the pressure, and every unwanted thought, horrific impossibility, and deepest nightmare roared to the surface. He would lose her. He would be alone again. What would he do without her…?
And then he made it to the racetrack, Sugar Rush's ridiculous chocolate rain pelting him from the side as he stared down at the burnt out shell of Vanellope's kart.
04. Value
He doesn't know what to do.
But he's the hero—the Good Guy. The Good Guy always has a plan. A way to win. The Good Guy always has the brains, the skills, and the luck. The game's hero and his allies are supposed to come out on top, safe and sound. Or so Felix believed.
Ralph was gone. Turbo was back. Or so he thought. He thinks…
Something just went wrong. Now no one can leave their games or go into others. Ralph was probably just stuck in Sugar Rush. He'd left the instant they heard the news. He would want to check on Vanellope. Ralph was just stuck in Sugar Rush.
Felix was lying to himself and he knew it. He didn't care.
Everything was going wrong. In Hero's Duty, the cy-bugs had gotten out of control. They hadn't followed their programming. Light stopped attracting them. Lasers stopped harming them. They were under someone else's influence now. Even if one were able to get into Game Central Station, they would be eaten alive in seconds. Tamora had guessed that the pests couldn't get into the games either and were locked inside with the Surge Protector.
Tamora.
She was hurt. Badly. They had been running from Hero's Duty when it happened. She hadn't wanted to leave. There was no honor in retreating. But he hadn't been about to watch her die. Tami had seen that. She'd agreed to go with him. Several of her men stayed behind. Felix could only guess what had happened to them.
They had been running. A cy-bug had gone after him. He was smaller. Weaker. An easier target. Calhoun had intercepted the attack. Tamora had risked her life for his own.
Back in his game, the Nicelanders had helped him set up a pseudo hospital. They brought in cots for any video game characters that had managed to get in before everything was sealed. They were mainly Hero's Duty soldiers. He had seen Q*bert earlier, thankfully uninjured.
Tami lay on a cot now. She was pale, her side bandaged. She was having trouble breathing. But Calhoun was fighting on.
Felix held her hand. He didn't have his gloves on for once. He briefly pondered what happened to them. Tami's hand was shaking. Calhoun's face remained emotionless. Her eyes were closed.
Felix wondered when Ralph would come back. He didn't know what to do.
05. Fortress
Vanellope would never admit (out loud, anyway) that she missed Ralph when he was gone.
And sure she had fun racing—the gamers, to her great joy, loved her sass and enjoyed playing as her. And while the other racers, Taffyta and her gang, were more civil towards her, Vanellope could not find herself to spend more time with then than was necessary. They may have been all smiles now, but not even two months ago they had been calling her a glitch and wrecking her pedal kart. The wounds they'd left had yet to heal, and Vanellope wasn't one who wanted to dwell too much on the past—especially when it was her own.
And thus, she remained rather lonely until Ralph came to visit.
To his credit, Ralph did come whenever he could. Once the arcade was closed he would bid her goodnight most every evening, even after a particularly long day when it looked like he would want nothing more than to fall asleep on his feet. And though she would never tell anyone, Vanellope would stay up waiting for Ralph on the nights he said he would be coming, panicking when he was a few minutes late—anything could happen in that small amount of time, after all. The wrecker still didn't know his way around Sugar Rush as well as he should and could have gotten lost, or hurt, or worse, or—but he always came, apologizing for making her wait up for him and that Felix or one of the Nicelanders or Q*bert had been what kept him.
He would ask her about her day and she would do the same for him and sometimes they'd jokingly gossip about Felix and Calhoun's most recent date, before Ralph would give her a quick kiss on the forehead (he never liked showing his soft side, despite what they'd been through and what they meant to each other) and tuck her in for bed. He would say goodnight and goodbye, but Vanellope knew that he really didn't leave for at least half an hour more, watching over her, and making sure she had fallen asleep soundly before he left.
Other times, however, she would have nightmares. Horrible, gut-wrenching nightmares that would make her toss and turn, shudder, and cry, but Ralph would always be there to end them.
So abruptly would her nightmares end that it would take Vanellope several seconds to register what had happened as the massive man scooped her up in his equally large arms, holding her tightly to his chest until the trembling of her small body and dry sobs had ceased. When her nightmares were especially rough, Ralph, holding her as if she were something infinitely precious, would rock her slightly, humming softly until she calmed down. It was within those massive arms that Vanellope would feel protected. In a place where the nightmares couldn't reach her, Vanellope no longer felt alone.