Chapter 1:
Disclaimer: I do not own Wreck-it Ralph, nor any of its characters.
This fiction is an AU and not to be considered canon.
"Don't carry your mistakes around with you. Instead, place them under your feet and use them as stepping stones." - Unknown
"THE ARCADE IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED!" A voice in the distance yelled out as a red vehicle with white details slowly rolled to a stop, having been seemingly abandoned by the being -a gamer- that had been previously controlling him. The gamer had been forced to leave the arcade by the owner.
The wide smile on the racer's face turned into a frown as he glared at the finish line that was just in front of him. If only he could just nudge himself a little farther, but his timer still had 30 seconds left…
His frustration turned into surprise at the sound of two engines coming up behind him. Dread filled his being. No, he couldn't let them win! It didn't matter if it was in front of the screen or behind the scenes, he was the winner, not them.
Despite the playable character's best efforts, he couldn't move an inch and wouldn't be able to until that darn timer had counted it's last digit. It still had 15 more seconds. More than enough time for those twin dweebs to beat him. His aggravation caused his eyes to tear up.
It wouldn't matter if he wasn't able to move. His brothers would still hold this over his head if they won.
His expression grew more negative as two whooping blurs of blue passed him from behind, crossing the finish line. Immediately his body's mobility was unlocked, as the race was now over. Not that it mattered as the game transported him from his little race car and onto a platform that would show his and his sibling's standings in the race. 3rd Place. And all because a snot-nosed child and poor excuse of a gamer couldn't just finish the last lap.
This was why he couldn't stand kids. It was ironic that he was literally just some digital play-thing for kids.
Despite his aggravation, he smiled with two thumbs up; congratulating the winner as his programming dictated.
"Better luck next time!" The grinning red and white racer spoke, looking at the screen where the gamer would have been; if they hadn't of abandoned him and made him lose.
His words were the last thing the game needed to finally allow the characters out of its invisible hold. Of course, the unhappy playable character wasn't at all appreciative of his regained freedom when the 1st Place Trophy was thrust into his face.
"Ha! In your face Turbo, you lost." One of his competitors boasted.
"Gears, be nice. You know it's hard enough for our little brother to lose." The other frowned. Gears snorted at his twin.
"Aw, come on, Shift! Our baby bro needs to toughen up a bit." The winning racer sneered, leaning into his lead character's face. "Isn't that right, Turbo? You need to get over it. Not everything is going to go your way. You're not some king."
Turbo fumed, fists clenching.
"King or not, it doesn't matter if you've won this race. 'Cause I've won so many more. Or are you the one with an overflowing trophy room?" The playable racer crossed his arms haughtily. Unfortunately, his words didn't have the wanted effect on the grumpier version of his identical competitors.
Gears lifted an eyebrow.
"Oh. Is that what it is? A 'trophy room'? It's literally just a cardboard box filled with your trophies on the side of our crappy, poor excuse of a garage." All three characters turned to look at the sad-looking box leaning on an equally sad-looking garage that honestly looked ready to fall apart.
Turbo's cheeks turned as red as his stripes as his brothers' amused gazes landed onto him.
"Y-yeah? Well, it's better than anything you would have thought up!" The youngest racer countered.
"Hey, you callin' me dumb?!" Gears gritted his teeth.
"Well, I ain't calling you smart!"
Both racers would have exchanged blows if it hadn't been for their other brother.
"Turbo, Gears, stop!" Shift moved in between his hot-headed brothers. What he wouldn't give to have someone else in the family with some sense in their noggin; he was getting tired of constantly pulling these two apart.
Shift decided to turn to his twin first, seeing as he was the instigator.
"You should know better than to fuel our brother's short fuse. If you really need to fight someone, go bother the Food Fight Gang or Puck-man or something. And as for you!" He swiveled around to focus on his younger sibling, eyes squinting -not out of anger, but because he honestly had a hard time seeing, "How many times have I told you to work on your temper? Plenty. And a good place to start would be to ignore your dunce of an older brother." Shift pointed his thumb behind him and didn't acknowledge the offended "Hey!"
"...Whatever." Turbo rolled his eyes and looked away. The more sensible twin sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I'm not nagging on you, because I don't like you, 'Bo. I do this because I do care. You've been getting rather mean lately; so much so that the others in the arcade don't really want much to do with you anymore."
"Well, good riddance! I want nothing to do with them. If they can't handle the fact that I'm the best there is, then they can go choke on a spoon!" The playable character lifted his gaze from the ground, glaring.
"That's a lot of talk, comin' from a guy so small." The more irritable twin huffed.
"News flash! I'm only, like, a head smaller than you!"
"Puh-lease, you're small enough to-"
"Guys, please." The calmest brother groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Look, you idiots can go back to verbally abusing each other later, but there have been a few new games plugged in and I'd like to welcome them. And you're coming with me, Gears." He smacked his twin upside the head, receiving an annoyed grunt in response. "Turbo, I would love it if you would join us-"
"I won't."
"-but as you've made it very known before, you do your own thing and I, unfortunately, cannot make you."
"You got that right, NPC." The lead character sniffed arrogantly, his nose upturned. Gears made a rude face, sticking out his tongue childishly at his little bro. Shift slammed his twin's jaw from below, causing him to bite his own tongue. And when Turbo snickered at his grumpy brother's misfortune, Shift stomped on his foot, causing his lead to yelp and jump in place; foot in hand. The calmer twin might be a little unpleasant in his methods, but they worked.
Most of the time.
It honestly it seemed like the only thing they would respond to these days. Heck, he shouldn't have to play peacekeeper, what with Turbo being the leader; but then, it was no doubt hard and confusing for the youngest of the three siblings to be in charge of the eldest. Which was why Shift never truly brought it up.
No matter how exhausting it was.
He definitely didn't envy his baby brother's position.
"Last chance." Shift raised an eyebrow. "Are you or are you not joining us in greeting the new members of this arcade family?" Turbo rolled his eyes.
"I'd rather be caught as roadkill than be seen hanging out with a couple of loser NPCs." A pang of guilt erupted inside the lead racer at the hurt that flashed across his bros' faces, but he didn't let it show. He was a playable character and, therefore, better than them. Those were the social status rules of the arcade; according to the other lead characters that he was forced to go to meetings with every week.
Turbo tried not to think of how his recently unplugged mentor would have been disappointed with these recent decisions.
"You don't really mean that…" Shift looked down. For a moment the lead character looked like he was about to apologize. He stopped himself.
"Yeah, I… I do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some better scenes to be." With that he scurried off, forcing himself to keep from looking back at his twins.
"Well, fine!" Gear's voice slammed into his back as he reached his car. "We don't need you either. You were always such a hoser to hang out with, anyway."
"EAT MY SHORTS." Turbo retaliated, jumping into his car and driving off, blinking away the frustrated tears in his eyes that were trying to blur his vision.
It started off with an intro and a rather upbeat 8-bit tune. Then bled into a game. His game.
"I can fix it!" The delightful little character promised to the rather huge being that stared at him within a clear square.
'The screen', A voice whispered in his head. The little character didn't have any time to ponder his discovery, as he was suddenly moving and jumping and avoiding bricks as well as anything else that could potentially harm him. He continued his frenzied movements as he attempted to fix everything his trusty golden hammer could touch. Unfortunately, it was a tough job as there was a big and rather angry man breaking more and more of the building above him!
This continued over and over until a loud voice from beyond the screen shattered his recently gained reality.
"THE ARCADE IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED!"
It was as if the voice held a sort of power over his world as some invisible force no longer compelled him to hold his position. He hadn't even realized there was something controlling him!
The fixer took this new freedom of mobility to take a look at himself. Based on his clothes and the trusty hammer hanging from his sturdy belt, he definitely looked the part of his job. At least he thought he did; his mind felt a little groggy still.
The entrance to the building behind him opening caused him to leap in fright, grabbing onto the tool held on his belt. Especially when a gaggle of little people started to pour out.
He recognized them to be the ones that were crying out for him to save them in the building. He released his hold on his hammer.
"Hello, Fix-it Felix!" They all greeted as one, looking expectedly at the man that they all automatically knew was their lead character.
"Oh… hello." Felix chuckled nervously. "How do ya' do?"
His words were like the opening of the flood-gates, as all the smaller apartment residents surrounding him began to talk at once. All vying their hardest to be the first to answer him. The handyman tried in futile to calm the little people down. Then somebody cleared their throat.
All voices hushed, much to the puzzlement of their lead. One of the munchkins pushed his way through his fellow residents and in front of the bemused handyman, adjusting his tie.
"Greetings, Fix-it Felix, I am Gene. And I am the owner of Niceland Apartments." The mustached man in front of Felix gestured to the building behind them.
"Well, congrats, Gene!" The handyman placed his hands on his waist, his smile beaming. He was trying to not to let the new situation get to him. "I'm sure you're doing a mighty fine job at running the place."
"Thank you, Felix!" The apartment owner preened at the praise. Then he motioned to the others around them. "And these are the Nicelanders."
Gene then took the time to introduce and name everyone. Felix just hoped he'd remember them all. After pleasantries we're out of the way, some small talk was made in an effort to get to know each other better.
Then the ground trembled. And trembled again. The handyman was the first to notice; and when he did, the others began to as well. He took note that the small shakes were constant, like footsteps.
Then his eyes caught onto the huge, angry man that had been wrecking the building beforehand. And he was running straight for them. The small crowd broke into chaos with cries of panic and fear, all scrambling for the building. All except for Felix.
The giant roared, upon reaching the handyman, raising his humongous hands high in the air, as if to strike. The fixer gasped and took a step back, his hand unconsciously finding the tool hanging at his side. Not knowing what to do, and never having fought this man face-to-face, Felix shut his eyes and froze.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three.
Nothing happened.
The fixer slowly opened his eyes, one after the other. He gazed at the enraged man in front of him. The man had lowered his clenched fists to his sides and was breathing heavily, his eyes conflicted with a whole assortment of emotions. Frustration and confusion being the ones that Felix could properly recognize.
The playable character did the only thing he could think of.
"H-hello, I'm Fix-it Felix Jr! What's, uh, what's your name…?" He gave the giant a hopeful —if frightened— smile, taking off his hat respectfully.
The man blinked, then gruffly muttered out his name.
"...Wreck-it Ralph."
The smaller man smiled delightfully at the willingness to communicate, extending his hand out in greeting.
"Well, how do ya' do, Ral—"
"HEY!"
Both of them startled at the interruption, both twisting to view a rather riled up Gene. The irate little Nicelanders walked straight up to the wrecker, having found a sudden burst of fearlessness. If Felix could stand his ground with the monster, then so could he!
It would have been a comical sight if the tensions weren't so high.
"Who do you think you are, wrecking my building?!" The little landowner huffed.
Ralph gave a surprised grunt, the words registering in his mind.
He grew livid.
"Your building was built on my land. Without. Permission." The giant growled, leaning lower and into the tiny man's face.
Felix gasped in surprise at that. Gene, on the other hand, wasn't impressed.
"Oh, well, apologies. If you could show me your authentication papers that prove you own this land, then I'll happily move it." There was a certain smugness in the owner's voice that suggested he already knew the answer.
"A-authentication… papers…?" The wrecker furrowed his eyebrows at the Nicelander.
"Oh? So you don't have any? Then I legally and fairly set my building down on this here land." The mustached man raised an eyebrow.
"This land has been in my family for generations! My stump, my home, was sat right where you put your crummy building!"
"And now it's over there." Gene pointed uncaringly over to the huge pile of bricks just out of sight of the screen. "Now, if you will excuse us, we more civilized people have important things to attend to."
The apartments' owner grabbed Felix's arm and dragged him to the apartments.
"O-oh! Uh, I'll see ya later Ralph. And I'm sorry about your home." The handyman quickly blurted out to the wrecker that glared at them, before he was shoved into the building.
Once the door was closed, the fixer turned on his heels to face the building owner with a disappointed expression.
"Now, Gene, that wasn't a very nice thing you did out there. You took away his home and are now calling him uncivilized? What do you have to say for yourself?"
"It's not like it truly matters, it's just a game. He was just given the short end of the stick in terms of the story. So, who honestly cares where his tree stump is?" Gene rolled his eyes.
"Just a—" Felix thought hard. It made sense. "It is just a game, isn't it? Well, even still, perhaps it'd be best to help build him a better with all those bricks?"
"Why bother? If he truly wants a better living space, then he could just do it himself; have you seen those hands? He'll be fine."
"Perhaps we could at least extend a willingness to help if he so chose?" The handyman wrung his hands together.
"Just let it go, Felix. I'm sure if he wants any help, he'll ask."
"Oh." The lead character followed the little NPC into the elevator. "I-I suppose that makes sense…"
The fixer sensed some tension within the landowner and didn't want to cause a rift within this new found friendship. Sure, it was a game, but the emotions of the situation felt real.
Maybe some time was needed before he brought up the subject again? When everybody finally situated into their new lives and roles?
"Now how do you feel about some pie?"
A/N:
I feel that this is a typical start to a prequel fanfiction of WIR. Unfortunately, this was the way my mind felt was best.
I'm sure you'll all forgive me once we hit the later chapters; you'll find that it will become much different. For one thing, I have yet to see a proper Best Friend fic between Turbo and Felix. Either it is only mentioned or a one-shot. The rest featuring the two is shipping them together.
This story features 80s Best Friends. Brotp all the way.
This will be your story if you want to see a full, blown-out friendship between the two.
This story will be the first of two. Hopefully. It honestly depends on if I ever finish this one.
Thank you for giving my story a moment of your time.
Optional Question(s):
Who's your favorite character?
Do you have any ideas where this story may lead (besides the obvious)?
Who do you think Turbo's old mentor is?