A/N: I myself am not a twin, so my apologies if I totally butcher traits associated with twins. I don't own Wreck-It Ralph, but I so do wish I did. Also, to those reading my Noble Families of Sugar Rush fic, it's gonna take a little longer than usual to get another chapter up due to a severe case of Writer's Block. My sincerest apologies!
If there's anyone else who can easily relate to Ivory about being a twin, it's none other than Minty Zaki. No doubt about it, having a twin is great, but sometimes you wish you weren't so close to him or her. Luckily for Ivory, Minty's always here to share a story or two regarding her twin brother Swizzle Malarkey.
The story of Minty and Swizzle is a rather weird one. People have always asked Minty, "If you two are twins, then why do you have different last names?"
The answer's simple, really. "Minty Malarkey would sound weird, guys, so I took up our mom's maiden name Zaki," she explained. But then comes the fact that they do look pretty different. Another easy answer that takes only common sense to explain: Swizzle's more of a Mama's Boy while Minty is Daddy's Little Girl. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop the flooding of questions from the others, although it seems more to ask just because at this point.
Makes sense, when one thinks about it. Besides, the name Minty Zaki does have a better ring to it than Minty Malarkey. Back to the main point, now, and that's a conversation between Ivory and Minty.
It was during game hours at Litwack's Arcade, so there wasn't a lot of time for a break. However, for a certain Chocolate twin, she doesn't need to worry about racing. After all, why race in the game when you're an NPC? So Ivory sat in the sidelines with the supporters, cheering on for Ebony when the race finished. When the players left and the coast was clear, she shouted, "Great job, Sis! Ya placed fifth!"
"Coulda been better, but better than the other half of the racers, at least," the excitable Viking girl conceded. "Well, I gotta check on damages on Bull, alright? See ya at the finish line, Little Sis!" Ebony added, running off to do some quick repairs on the Chocolate Bull. Even the most rugged of karts can get scratches.
Ivory sighed and relaxed a bit, playing her bagpipes a bit. Having a racer twin can be a little lonely at times, she thought. Fixing her kart, being in the thrill of the race, enjoying the wind whipping her braids...while you just sit on the sidelines cheering her on, she told herself. Biting words, but true nonetheless.
Minty snuck up on Ivory from behind, giving the piper a nervous squeal. "Boo!" the green-clad girl whispered into the Scottish girl's ear.
"Eek!" Ivory squealed, shaken up a little. "Minty...you almost made my heart stop!" she chided.
"Heh. Sorry," Minty apologized, smirking a bit. "I couldn't help it."
"I swear, you're like your brother sometimes," she commented, relaxing a bit now.
"That comes from being twins, Ivory. I thought you, of all people, would know that!" the green racer laughed, playfully punching her shoulder.
Ivory blushed, mumbling, "Right, tight. I forgot that you're twins. It's just that you look more different than similar."
Minty took a deep breath, stopping her laughing so she could talk. "Fraternal twins, Ivory. I know you and Eb here are fraternal twins yourselves, but you two look more similar to each other than I do to Swizzle," she clarified.
"Hey, Minty? Ya sometimes wish you weren't Swizzle's sis?" the auburn-streaked girl asked suddenly.
"Pfffthahaha! You have no idea, Ivory!" Minty laughed again, her face going red from laughter. "I have SO many stories I wanna share with ya!"
Ivory made herself comfortable. This might be a long story. Or maybe a lot of short stories. Regardless, this'll be interesting to hear.
Minty started off with, "A quick fun fact: Swizzle loves to make graffiti on the walls in Game Central Station. In fact, he's given himself a nickname from that, so he sometimes calls himself 'The Swizz'."
"Wow, really?" Ivory deadpanned, raising an eyebrow.
"Yep! So one time, he did the graffiti again in Game Central Station and Surge Protector caught him. So he sent Little Bro back and told him that if he ever does that again, he'll notify our parents," the green-apple racer sighed, shaking her head.
The other racer tilted her head in some confusion, asking, "But Surge Protector can't come into our games. How's he gonna notify them?"
"It was probably an empty threat," Minty reasoned, shrugging a bit. They both knew that Surge Protector can't do much, other than making sure the characters didn't smuggle items in and out. But if he could go into their game, he would.
"I hear that Surge Protector himself does a little bit o' vandalizing once in a while," Ivory whispered, even though no one was around to hear them.
Minty smiled deviously, as if relishing this piece of gossip. "Ooh, that'll be fun telling him about how he sends us back and does a total 180 and does what Swizzle does. Anyways, I somehow found out about that and I gave Bro a nice slap upside the head! Called him a baka," she laughed, even though Ivory doesn't know what she meant.
"What does that mean? Baka?" the NPC inquired, her Scottish lilt ever so tender and innocent-sounding.
"It means idiot, when you get down to it. Some people like to define it as a...ruder word, let's just say," the candied-apple-themed girl clarified, still holding in giggles. "Say, I think I might have one more story before I gotta get ready for another race," she added, rubbing her chin a bit.
"Fire away!" Ivory nodded, eager to hear.
Minty took a breath, in thought of what story to choose. Hmm... What to choose, what to choose, she told herself. Then an idea popped into her head and she brightened, evidenced by her smile. "Alright, Piper. Sit back and relax, because this story might be sorta long."
"Piper?" Ivory asked.
"Ya know how Ebony has a nickname? I figured you'd get one, too, since ya play those bagpipes like they're nothing!" she explained, feeling proud of that nickname she thought for her friend.
When Ivory settled down a bit, moving her bagpipes into a position where they won't be a bother, Minty started. "I remember this one time, Swizzle and Gloyd were pulling pranks on everyone. Swizzle and I were pretty young, alright? Mom and Dad told us to never annoy anyone. Alright, simple enough. But someone just had to prank the racers. Pranks were everywhere! A water bucket fell on Rancis, ruining his hair. Jubileena got whipped cream on her face when they did the classic whipped cream and feather prank. Heck, even the recolors got a dose of the pranks! Nougetsia and Sticky were victims of the dreaded cardboard cake prank. That was awful...but it wasn't as awful as when the two ding-dong ditched Taffyta. Ooh, she was beyond steamed when she found out they ding-dong ditched her! It was at that point that I wished I wasn't related to Swizzle. I was a little embarrassed to be the older twin, in all honesty. Still, all was forgiven in the end. After all, we would never stay mad at each other for long," she recalled, smiling a bit as if that was a whimsical memory now, even though Taffyta gave the two a walloping.
Ivory laughed, now thinking of pulling a prank or two on Ebony now. "I'll admit, your brother is quite a prankster, almost as good as Gloyd!"
"Well, when your best friend is the king of jokes, I'd think you'd be almost his equal," Minty smirked.
"Say, I have a story you might enjoy, Minty," Ivory smiled, laughing a bit.
"Really? Better share that with me next time, Piper!" the racer smiled, pulling down a bit on Ivory's tammy hat for kicks. Just then, a Quarter Alert sounded, making Minty speed off. "See ya, Piper!"
Ivory laughed, rolling her eyes playfully at the green girl. I guess we're all goofballs at heart. It's just that we masquerade as innocent little angels, she whimsically told herself. She, along with the Highland spectators, started cheering for the relatively brutish racer. Glancing at the supporters, Ebony saluted back, smiling like the village idiot. The race started and Ivory played her sister's favorite tune, the airy tune of the Chocolate Highlands. It's great to have a twin.