Suddenly it became bright for them as they were outside an orphanage and a woman's voice was heard narrating the story of Cinderella as the young girl came with her father before Lady Tremaine married him and brought Anastasia and Drizella into their lives.

"This seems familiar..." Cherry murmured as she was dressed in old-fashioned clothes now like Atticus was.

"This seems oddly familiar." Atticus murmured.

"I just said that," Cherry glanced at him, then looked over. "Cinderella! It's us!"

The beautiful blonde girl only tilted her head, she didn't seem to know them.

"Atticus and Cherry, remember?" Atticus asked her.

"Are we in the past?" Cherry then thought.

"Daddy, can we please adopt these two?" Young Cinderella asked.

'Cinderella wanted Cherry and Atticus to be adopted since her mother had died and she felt a little lonely and her father was just recently widowed.' the narrator explained to the players.

"Oh, this must be when we first met Cinderella, the game is narrating to the players." Atticus whispered to Cherry.


The kids had to go through with their Cinderella adventure, luckily the kids playing the game appeared to be experts. Soon the game ended and it was now 8:00.

"Closing time!" Mr. Litwak called to the gamers.

"I guess we're staying here." Cherry shrugged to Atticus as the credits were rolling and they were now being left alone by the two kids from before.

"Now what?" Atticus asked.

The lights were turning off then.

There was the girl in a dance-dance-revolution game as she did some dances and looked around. "Alright, all clear!" she called to the other game characters.

Two guys in Street Fighter kept fighting, then took a break and decided to go to a 1980's video game called Tapper which was a bar tending game for the older gamers.

"Let's get going and meet the others." Atticus said.


Cherry shrugged and followed him out as Game Central Station was now open and many other video game characters were leaving their games and going out to hang out with each other.

"Party!" a platinum blonde girl wearing pink all around, even having a strawberry-like hat on burst out the doors and was skipping along and having a sweet, cheerful smile.

"I can't believe this, we're actually in a video game world and we have our own video game." Atticus said.

"Interesting... Excuse me, little girl..." Cherry greeted the hopping girl.

"Yes, sir and ma'am, can I help you?" the girl asked with a sweet grin.

"We're not from here, can you tell us how to get out?" Cherry asked.

"Get out?" the girl giggled. "Why would you ever do such a thing? It's 8:00, closing time, time to have some real fun! I'll see ya later, I'm meetin' some of my bestest best friends!" she hopped off.

"I think I just got diabetes from talking to that girl..." Cherry cringed.

"Let's go and see if there's something we can do around here like go to a party." Atticus suggested.

"I dunno..." Cherry shrugged.

A lot of the smaller game characters ran away in terror.

Cherry and Atticus looked over to see Fix-it-Felix himself coming over.

"Oh, excuse me," Felix greeted them calmly. "Are you aware tonight is the 30th anniversary of my game?"

"We didn't know that, sure, we'd love to come." Atticus said.

"Super, you're not on my invite list, but the more friends the merrier!" Felix beamed, then led them to his game with all the other Nicelanders. "A lot of people are coming! Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario, Pacman!"


Cherry and Atticus followed him and saw the very short townspeople who looked like munchkins compared to Felix.

"Cool." Atticus said.

Felix went with the others to the apartment building to celebrate the party and get it started after a long day of playing their game as they were programmed to do. Skrillex came over to be the DJ and many other characters came to the party. Cherry sat on the couch as the various other people started to mingle. Sonic the Hedgehog had finally come and was real popular with the others and then Cherry went to him.

"This party sure is a well party." Atticus said.

"This is awesome!" Sonic beamed.

Pacman was guzzling down a lot of the shrimp cocktail left for everyone.

"I never thought I'd be invited to a party like this." Cherry commented.

Felix smiled at everyone as he danced, then the doorbell rang. "Oh, I'll bet that's Mario, fashionably late, per the norm."

"I'll get it, Felix!" a Nicelander named Gene beamed, then went to do just that.

But when he opened the door, he didn't see Mario, but Wreck-it-Ralph.

Gene quickly shut the door and leaned on it. "It's Ralph!" he whispered nervously to the other guests, which alarmed everyone except Cherry and Atticus.

"He'll wreck the party!" one of the Nicelanders cried out.

Atticus went over to the door.

"Get rid of him, Felix!" another Nicelander added.

"Save those children!" a woman cried out as Cherry went to do the same.

"Oh, let me talk to him, you guys," Felix looked over to Cherry and Atticus to get the door. "Carry on, everyone."

After Felix closed the door, Atticus placed his ear close to the door. Ralph and Felix were talking about what the celebration was about. Cherry listened in too and as they brought up cake, she grabbed Atticus out of the way as Ralph instantly opened the door.

"Hello, everybody!" Ralph called out, but accidentally made a chunk of the ceiling crack and fall on top of Felix.

Felix spasmed a little bit and landed in the middle of the floor with his eyes shut with a lily in his hands as the funeral march beeped a little bit. He then came back alive.

Cherry blinked. "Uhh, Mr. Fix-It?"

"I'm okay," Felix informed everyone. "I'm okay, fit as a fiddle, and please, call me, Felix, little lady. Now, you all know Ralph..."

The Nicelanders only glared at the nine-foot tall man who was the villain of their game.

"Hello, Ralph, my name is Atticus James Fudo and this is Cherry Butler." Atticus greeted.

Ralph smiled that someone was actually being nice to him and welcoming him. "Hey, I suppose you met the old gang... Nell... Lucy... Don... Dana..."

"Deanna." one of the woman corrected, looking annoyed with the man.

"Big Gene!" Ralph smiled.

"Why is he here and why are those kids being nice to him?" Gene scowled.

"Why shouldn't we be nice to him?" Atticus asked him.

"And I'm a big part of this game technically speaking," Ralph leaned to the tiny bully of a man. "Why are you here, Gene?"

"Oh, look, the cake!" Felix quickly called out to avoid any discomfort.

Ralph grinned towards Gene, then went to get the cake.

"Wow, this cake looks awesome!" Cherry came to see as it resembled the building with all of the Nicelanders with Felix at the top with fireworks on top.

"I hope you kids would like some too." the woman who made the cake, Mary, smiled sweetly to them.

"Of course." Atticus said.

"Oh, look, there's all of us at the top!" one Nicelander called out.

"Each apartment is everyone's favorite flavor," Mary explained. "Woods is red velvet, and lemon for Lucy, rum cake for Gene, and for Felix-"

Ralph was looking around for him, then saw that his cake figure was in the mud which disappointed him. "Hey, Mary, what's the flavor of the mud I'm stuck in there?"

Mary looked. "Oh, chocolate." she answered simply.

"Mm, chocolate." Atticus said.

Cherry agreed.

"Never been real fond of chocolate." Ralph voiced his opinion.

"Well, I did not know that..." Mary said, keeping her smile.

"Didn't you ask Ralph if he liked chocolate or not?" Atticus asked Mary.

"Well, no, it didn't occur to me, actually." Mary shrugged.

"This little Ralph looks aggressive too." Cherry looked to the little cake model of Ralph with a violent, scary face with red, beady eyes.

"She's right," Ralph moved it, much to Mary's dismay, and placed it on top with the others on the apartment roof. "I think this little angry guy would be happier if you put him up here."

'This might not end well.' Atticus thought.

Ralph and Gene nearly made an argument about there being no room, but not on the cake, but in the apartment due to him being the villain, Gene and the others were in distress for the game, and Felix would then save the day.

"Just give him a chance!" Cherry cried out. "Let him win a medal for once!"

"If he won a medal, we'd let him live up here in the Penthouse!" Gene sounded really nasty now and turned to Ralph in sheer anger. "But that would never happen, because you're the bad guy who wrecks the building!"

Ralph and Gene had a final argument and Ralph was so mad, he slammed his giant fists against the table which nearly smashed the cake everywhere and it even splattered onto Pacman.

'That didn't end well at all.' Atticus thought.

Cherry put her finger against some of the cake on Atticus and put it in her mouth. "Mmm, multi-flavored!"

Gene glared at Ralph again and only told him that he'd mess things up.

Ralph grew determined then. "Alright, Gene, you know what? I'm gonna win a medal, oh, I'm gonna win a medal, the shiniest medal you've ever seen, a medal so good, that it'll make Felix's medals wet their pants!" He said, making his way out of the door.

"He's really going out to get himself a medal." Atticus said.

"Is he serious?" one Nicelander whispered.

"Oh, please, where's a bad guy gonna win a medal?" Gene folded his tiny arms. "Of course he's not serious! You kids shouldn't get involved with him."

Cherry looked at Atticus. "We're gonna help Ralph anyway, aren't we?"

"Of course we're gonna help him. Sorry everyone, but me and Cherry have to go." Atticus said.

Mary looked in concern for the kids, but Gene made her stay back.

Cherry and Atticus left the apartment building and saw Ralph was getting in a trolley on his way out of the game.

"Guys, what're you doing here?" Ralph looked over his shoulder, seeing the two.

"We're gonna help you." Atticus said.

"Nah, Gene's right, I can't get myself a medal..." Ralph sighed. "I don't wanna make you kids risk that."

"Never follow your naysayers." Cherry advised as she got in the cart with him.

"Yeah, besides, we'll help anyone that's our friend." Atticus said as he got in the cart as well.

"We're friends?" Ralph sounded touched.

"Sure, why not?" Cherry said as the cart was then going out back to Game Central Station.

"Yeah." Atticus said.

Ralph smiled a little at them as the cart took them to the station. "How 'bout Tappers?" he offered to them to drown his sorrows. "My treat."

"Sure." Atticus said.


Ralph had taken Atticus and Cherry with him to his usual depressing spot where he would talk about his problems with one of the only people who only felt like his true friend, such as the bartender.

"I've never been more serious about anything in my life," Ralph told Tapper why they had come. "That's why I came straight here, Tapper, you've never given me a bum steer and these kids are on my side too. Now, c'mon, where can a guy like me get a medal?"

"I don't think such a game exists, Ralph." Tapper shrugged as he washed a mug after giving them root beer to drink.

Atticus began to think where Ralph could go and get a medal and then it hit him. "What about that new game Hero's Duty?" He asked.

"I don't know if game hopping's a good idea." Cherry remarked.

As that was said, one of the men from the game Hero's Duty was walking and mumbling like a zombie and had ran into the wall. He sounded very exhausted and upsetting.

"Hey, what's up?" Cherry tried to get his attention, but the man was just mindless right now.

"Hey, soldier, you okay?" Atticus asked.

"We've only been plugged in a week!" the man grew animated and looked like he was a shell-shocked victim of his game's atmosphere. "And every day, it's climb the building, and fight the bugs!"

Ralph wasn't interested anymore and started to walk off.

"Climb the building, fight more bugs, and all for what?" the man continued. "A lousy medal?"

"I was right." Atticus whispered to Ralph and Cherry.

Ralph asked more and got excited and offered to be part of Hero's Duty.

"Negatory!" the man snapped sharply.

"Does that mean maybe?" Ralph asked.

Cherry sighed and face-palmed.

"No!" the man looked them all in the eye. "Look, only the bravest and best serve in our corps!"

Atticus's eyes were just slightly closed as he showed a bug he found to the soldier.

"BUG!?" the guy sounded terrified due to the game he was programmed for and ran into the wall, knocking himself out.

Ralph and Cherry looked down at the knocked out 'space cadet'.

Ralph smirked and flicked the insect off his shoulder. "Nice work, Atticus."

"I knew it would work." Atticus said.

"Look, you guys better get back to your own game before the arcade opens in the morning, I'm gonna make an unscheduled appearance in Hero's Duty." Ralph told the two of them.

"Good luck, Ralph!" Cherry gave a thumb's up and dashed out of the bar to do just that.

Tapper waved to her as she left.

"Good luck, Ralph." Atticus said, before joining Cherry.


"You think he can do it?" Cherry asked as they remembered the way to their game to turn in for the evening, they guessed they would have to sleep in their game for the night as it got very late in the real world.

"Maybe, but with of how violent the game is, I highly doubt it." Atticus said.

"You've played it before?" Cherry asked.

"Yeah and trust me, the bugs that soldier was freaked out about, well, he should be freaked out about it, because those Cy-Bugs aren't like normal bugs." Atticus said.

"Oh, I see..." Cherry found herself getting tired from what they had been through today. "I guess we'll see Ralph and everyone again tomorrow."

"Yeah, well, night." Atticus said.

"Night..." Cherry said, her voice fading.