Lost Codes Trilogy: Book One - Arrival.
Chapter One – The Legend
So, you wanna hear a story, eh? Let's start with a legend that has been going around all of arcadia since 'pong'. Legend has it that there were ten 'Lost Codes'; programming mistakes that, for some weird reason, had the power to modify, copy, paste, make, and delete code. Once their abilities were discovered, the arcade council ordered that all lost codes be deleted, due to them possessing powers that could destroy all the arcades in the world. The lost codes, however, didn't know of this. They didn't even know they had powers beyond their ability to shapeshift and create force-fields. Thus when they were about to get deleted, chaos ensued. During their trial, one of the lost codes discovered his powers that were beyond defensive capabilities. That lost code's power was destructive enough to nearly destroy the arcade, thus forcing the arcade council into setting them free and making a peace treaty with them. For a time, there was peace. But the lost code that had learned of his power needed something to do. He had freedom. He had power. But power corrupts. He had wanted more. Pretty soon, he had broken the arcade's peace treaty, but this time, when he was about to kill the council members, a lost code stood up to him. They fought valiantly, dealing heavy damage to each other. However, the council decided to delete all lost codes permanently to ensure safety. The council's strongest member, who just so happened to be the ball from pong, pushed both of them into the 'pit'. The pit deleted everything that came into it. The good lost code died, but the evil one had hidden away, along with three others, vowing to seek revenge upon the council and claim what was rightfully theirs.
The other four lost codes went into hiding, never to be seen again. One lost code however, wasn't hiding. He just wasn't showing himself in the arcade. He had befriended everyone in the area called Dan's House. He had watched games come and go, being nearly as old as gaming itself. He was ever youthful though, as lost codes were meant to be mistakes, after all. And mistakes never die. None of the lost codes were ever heard of nor ever dared to set foot in an arcade. Until one fateful night...
7:30 PM, Dan's PC:
"You sure you want to leave, bro?" Axton asked (Yes, axton from Borderlands 2) "I mean, after all that's happened to your kind in an arcade?
"Yeah. It's about time I went out of hiding. Who knows, maybe the council's forgotten all about me. And besides, I have turrets, too" Joseph, one of the lost codes that weren't corrupted, said.
"Well, It's your funeral, buddy." Axton leads him to the "Laptop Adapter" gateway.
As soon as they reach the door, Axton says; "Well, here it is. The door nobody ever dared touch." "Well hurry up before the night patrol catches up." Joseph replies. Damn, those elites look weird, I mean, seriously, four mandibles? He thinks to himself. Axton opens the door and sees the a black void being lit up by bolts of electricity every now and then. "Well, this is where we part, old friend." Axton says, then salutes Joseph. "Happy trails, partner. See ya on the flip-side!" Joseph says as he takes out a flashlight and throws a surfboard into the door.
He jumps out. For the first few seconds or so, he was riding the current waves. But when he got to the actual adapter... "HOLY GORDON FREEMAN!" He shouts as a bolt of electricity nearly hits him. "I have to get out of here as fast as I can!" He says to himself. He manages to avoid all the bolts inside the adapter, but when he finally exits the area of "Dan's House", A big bolt of electricity hits him. It was too strong to fight. 'Looks like this is the end...' He thinks to himself as his consciousness fades... The current carries him far from where he came from, Into a place called "Litwak's Arcade"...
Root Beer Tapper; 9:00 PM; Game Central Station; Litwak's Arcade.
"Two more here, tapper!" A nine-foot tall man with freakishly huge hands said.
"What game are we going to next, Ralph?" A little girl who was about 3 feet 10 inches asked excitedly.
"Vanellope, I'm afraid it's just gonna be tapper's today. Or the whole month for that matter." Ralph says.
"What?! C'mon, Ralph, are ya nuts? Just cause i'm gonna get my update in a month doesn't mean I need rest!" Vanellope replies.
"Oh yes you do, kid. Just ask the guys from DDR, updates can drain your energy while being applied, and I don't want my best friend to be asleep for two years." Ralph says, both matter-of-factly and jokingly.
"Fine." Vanellope says and sighs in defeat. She then proceeds to finish her root beer, which had just arrived, and go back to her game, which was called "Sugar Rush."
As she and Ralph were heading out of Tapper's, a blue light flashed and an alarm set off multiple times, then stopped. The surge protector, however, was nowhere to be seen.
The two friends then shrug this off and head to their respective games.
Inside Sugar Rush...
"Ever since this stupid update was announced, everyone's like; rest this, rest that, don't stay up late... Ugh, I hate this feeling!" She says to herself, then heads to a place where she can cool off by herself (which is diet cola mountain). Then she suddenly sees the blue flash from earlier and sees it form a crater deep in the candy tree forest. She decides to investigate. "Finally! Something to do around here" She says.
Where am I? Joseph thinks to himself. He then feels something... or rather, someone, poking him. He opens his eyes, only to find a cute girl who was less than four feet tall, wearing a teal hoodie and a brown reese's cup skirt and peppermint-striped leggings. He also noticed that her hair was full of candy. "Hello, mister!" She says cheerfully. "You're not from here, are you?" She asks. who is this kid? Joseph thinks to himself. He then proceeds to sit up and says; "I'm not from here. Where am I?" He asks the Girl. "You're in Sugar Rush, A-doi! Did you just get plugged in or something?" She asks. "Oh, by the way, do you have a name?"
"Sorry, my name is Joseph. I don't really have a last name..." He says.
"Okay. Well, I'm Vanellope. Vanellope Von Schweetz." The girl replies.
"Where am I, really?" Joseph asks.
"I already told you, you're in Sugar Rush-" She starts before getting cut off by Joseph.
"Sugar Rush in Where? What arcade?" He asks.
"Litwak's Arcade. Why does it matter?" She asks.
"I'm not from Litwak's Arcade. I'm from a person's house." He replies.
"Really?" She asks, amazed that she was talking to someone that wasn't from the arcade.
"Yeah. Do you mind showing me around?" He asks her.
"Sure, but only if you'll be my friend from now on." She says.
"Deal." They shake hands and Vanellope gives him a tour of Sugar Rush.
Vanellope shows all the important parts of Sugar Rush, and some secret places, too.
After the tour, Joseph speaks up; "Okay, so let me get this straight. You're a Princess-erm-President, You guys race a lot, and this whole place is made out of candy?" Joseph asks Vanellope.
"Well, yeah, that's pretty much it..." She says. "Wanna go to Game Central Station? It's where the other games are."
"Sure." He replies nonchalantly.
They head for Game Central Station.
BEEP! An alarm sounds as Vanellope and Joseph exit Sugar Rush.
"Not this again!" She groans.
A blue man appears and says; "Name?"
"Vanellope Von Schweetz, Sugar Rush, Headed nowhere in particular, My companion here is Joseph, He doesn't have a last name, and, I hate you." She replies, in a rush.
"Proceed." He says in a bored manner.
"Who was that guy?" Joseph asks.
"He's the surge protector. Don't mind him. C'mon, I'll introduce you to Ralph!" Vanellope says excitedly.
Vanellope grabs him by the hand and drags him to Fix-It Felix Jr.'s Train.
Knock, knock, knock. Someone was knocking on his door. Ralph hesitantly got out of bed and opened the door. "Vanellope? What are you doing here? I thought I told you to sleep already!" Ralph says, slightly annoyed by the fact that Vanellope didn't listen to him and that she woke him up.
"Relax, sleepyhead. I'm only here to Introduce you to Joseph." She replies
"Joseph?" Ralph asks.
"Hi." He says, appearing behind Vanellope.
"Name's Ralph, Wreck-It Ralph." He says, holding out his hands.
"Joseph. I don't have a last name." He says, shaking Ralph's hand.
Suddenly, both of them get shocked and Ralph reels back in pain.
"What did you do to me?" Ralph says angrily.
Damn, I have to control that. "I don't know, but it hurt me too. And I didn't mean it" Joseph says, but then he flashes white, then returns to normal. What happened was; he had a sample of Ralph's code. He now knew everything about Ralph. And as an added bonus, he could also use the sample to gain Ralph's strength for a while.
"Don't you dare try that again!" Ralph says.
"He said he didn't mean it, Ralph! Get over it!" Vanellope says, defending her new friend.
"Okay, I'll do that!" Ralph says, slamming the door on both of them and going back to sleep.
"Sorry. He's got quite the temper, that stinkbrain." Vanellope says to Joseph apologetically.
"It's alright."
"What really happened though?" She asks. Thought I wouldn't know you were lying, huh?
"Let's just say that I know exactly who he is, what his strengths and weaknesses are and how to wreck stuff just like he does." He replies, smirking at Vanellope.
"Cool. Let's do it to the others!" Vanellope says happily.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, Vanellope, but I'm really tired and would like to sleep somewhere." Joseph says.
"Oh! Let me introduce you to Felix, he might have a place for you here, in east niceland." She replies.
"Thanks. I appreciate it."
"You're welcome." Vanellope says, smiling at him.
Knock, knock, knock.
Felix opens the door and sees Vanellope and some new guy at his doorstep.
"What can I do for ya?" Felix asks in his southern accent.
"Well, Joseph here doesn't have a place to stay, so I was wondering if you could let him live in east niceland." Vanellope says with a cute smile.
"Oh. Okay. The last apartment block in east Niceland's yours." Felix replies, looking up at this 'Joseph' character.
"Thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate this." Joseph says, giving Felix a curt nod.
And so the three of them head back home and get a good night's sleep. Well maybe not Felix. Not right away. He spent some time with his Dynamite gal.
-TBC-
A/N: Well, here we go! Chapter one of my non-AU, Older!Vanellope/OC story without a rushed plot.
They will, however, start going out later in book one. Don't worry, Jawbreaker 'shippers, I'll make Ralph/Vanellope stories pretty soon. Just let me get my shizz together. Also, note that I'll reference a LOT of games here. In the next chapter, I just might mention a few characters from "Plumet 2". If you haven't played it already on Newgrounds, play it. It's fun, in a way. My high score's 24,375 Meters, by the way. (Beat that!) Anyways, R&R, Guys!